Taking Care of Reno - Interludes
by Desha
Summary: Interludes is a companion piece to Taking Care of Reno (Remastered); a collection of random scenes that are referenced at various points in the series, but either didn't fit in with the flow of the chapter, or were only briefly mentioned as off-hand backstory information.
1. Scene 1

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 1**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Author's note:**_ _Interludes is a companion piece to Taking Care of Reno (Remastered). It's basically a collection of random scenes that are referenced at various points in the series, but either didn't fit in with the flow of the chapter, or were only briefly mentioned as off-hand backstory information._ _These will be short, and serve to fill in some inconsequential blanks in the main series. They will not be in any particular order, but I will note where in the series they occur, and provide reference text where applicable._

 _ **If any of you readers are interested in a particular instance in the series that you think should be included here, please review and let me know. I'm keeping a list for future updates. :)**_

* * *

 _ **Scene notes:**_ _This takes place about three to four months prior to the first chapter of Taking Care of Reno, as referenced in Chapter 13: Up in Smoke:_

" _How the hell could he not have picked up on the timing? Rude couldn't have cared less about Reno's smoking until just a few weeks after 'Lena had been promoted. Which was just a few months after his dad's funeral – a funeral at which Rude had been a bit of a wreck and had leaned heavily on his friend for support for days afterward. He groaned, realization hitting him like a ton of bricks."_

* * *

Rude barely even glanced up when the first knock sounded. The second pulled his irritated gaze away from the bottle in front of him for a moment. The third knock, he pointedly ignored and downed the shot he'd just poured himself. With a soft click, the lock snapped open, and the door swung inward.

"It's way too early for that shit, partner," a familiar voice chided him from the doorway a moment later.

"... You're the one always saying it's never too early." Rude poured another glass. Reno sighed and crossed the room, plucking it out of his hand.

"Never too early for a beer, pal... not the hard stuff," he replied, swallowing the liquor himself with a grimace, and setting the glass on the counter that separated Rude's kitchen from the living room. He glanced at the nearly empty bottle... and the other two next to it on the table. "How long you been at it, anyway?"

"..."

"Ah, don't give me that silent bullshit," he said, snatching at the bottle. Rude pulled it away just ahead of Reno's attempt.

"What do you want, Reno?" he said, glaring.

"What do I _want_? I wanna make sure you're okay," the redhead replied, "It's five o'clock in the fuckin' morning. Why the hell else would I be up this early on a goddamn Saturday?"

"... I'm fine."

"Yeah... I can tell," Reno retorted, "Didja even go to bed last night? 'Cause ya look like you've been up for days."

"..."

"Rude, talk to me, man..." he said, almost pleadingly, "You've been gone half the week. You're not takin' calls. You don't answer the door... I'm worried about you. Tseng's worried about you, too."

"Told you... I'm fine," the bald Turk, said, his patience wearing thin, "Now will you just go?"

"No," Reno replied. He folded his arms over his chest, and leaned back against the counter. "Look, I know you're takin' this hard, but I'm not gonna let ya –"

"Let me what?!" Rude growled, suddenly rounding on his fellow Turk. He stood, staggering under the influence of a night of heavy drinking and caught himself on the table. "Let me drink? Let me be alone for a few goddamn days? Let me deal with my father's death the way I want to deal with it?" Reno's eyes widened almost imperceptibly at the sight of his normally stoic friend so visibly angry.

"Rude... take it easy..." he said, hands up in front of him in a placating gesture. Rude's fist clenched around the neck of the bottle. "I just wanna help..."

Reno instinctively ducked as the bottle came flying at him, shattering against the wall inches from where his head had been. He honestly wasn't sure if the man had missed because he wasn't really aiming for him or because he was currently three sheets to the wind.

"Leave," he said, the threat not exactly subtle in his tone.

"No," Reno said again, firmly, staring him down. Rude advanced on him, grabbing Reno by the collar, and flinging him as hard as he could in the general direction of the door. The smaller man gave an alarmed cry as he suddenly found himself careening into the wall, slamming into several framed photos. He hit hard, crumpling to the floor to the sound of shattering glass.

Rude stood there for a moment, panting softly, waiting for the redhead to get up so he could yell at him to get out one more time. When Reno remained motionless, however, Rude's breath caught in his throat.

"... Reno?" he tried. The man neither answered, nor moved. He simply lay there, in a heap, on the floor. Rude's stomach twisted uncomfortably, and he stumbled towards him. "Reno?"

He hesitantly rolled the redhead onto his back, and panic set in. There was blood.

"No..." he whispered. A steady stream of red oozed from a gash just past his hairline. Rude's chest constricted painfully as the full realization of what he'd just done hit him. Not Reno. Anyone but him...

"... No... Reno, please... I'm sorry..."

Fear was surprisingly sobering. With some small effort, Rude lifted his friend off the floor, cradling him carefully as he carried him over to the couch. He took a dish towel from the kitchen, and pressed it against the wound, staunching the bleeding. Rude swallowed sharply, studying his friend's face for any sign of him waking. Eventually, Reno groaned softly, and stirred.

"Ow," the redhead said, blandly. Moments later, his eyes fluttered open.

"Reno... I..."

"I'm still not leavin'..." he said, cutting Rude off as he sat up, and wincing at his newly acquired headache.

"I'm sorry..." Rude said, taking a seat next to him.

"Tch... not the first time someone's thrown me across the room. Probably won't be the last..." Reno said, shrugging dismissively. Rude looked away, no longer able to meet his gaze. "You're mourning, and I'm a pain in the ass... let's just leave it at that."

"..." Rude suddenly seized him, clutching him tightly to his chest. "You're not a pain in the ass."

~fin~


	2. Scene 2

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 2**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene notes:**_ _This takes place after Elena's promotion, early on in the series (somewhere around Chapters 1-4), and well before Elena is introduced to Reno's friend, Kel. See Chapter 8: When Valentine's Day Attacks:_

" _Elena. Elena…" he mused, "Oh, right! So you're the rookie, huh?"_

" _Er… Yeah," Elena replied, confused as to how the man knew that._

" _Ha… Now I get it," Kel replied, and Reno rolled his eyes, "Reno talks about ya. Much as he's allowed to say, anyway. You Turks are harder 'n hell to pry information out of."_

* * *

"She got sister by any chance?"

"No... she's got a brother, though. Want me to set ya up?" Reno said with a smirk as he drained the last of his beer.

"Fuck you, Reno," Kel replied. He rolled his eyes at the Turk and tossed him another bottle.

"Yeah... You're not really my type."

"Right... I forgot. You like 'em tall, quiet, 'n bald," Kel snickered.

Reno narrowed his eyes, "Watch it," he said tersely, "Joke about me all ya want, but you start talkin' shit about Rude, I'm gonna get pissed."

The man held his hands up in surrender. "Alright, alright... didn't mean anything by it. Rude's a cool guy."

Reno uncapped the bottle on the edge of the coffee table and took a swig. Kel resumed his seat on the couch next to the Turk and grabbed his controller. The redhead grinned and set the beer down, picking up his as well.

"Fuck, man... I don't even know why I bother tryin'!" Kel exclaimed less than five minutes later, as his avatar's head exploded on-screen in a shower of blood, "Playin' a shooter against someone who does that shit for a living is kinda just askin' to lose."

"Coulda told ya that without humiliatin' ya seventeen times in a row..." Reno taunted, "'Course you kinda suck anyway... bet even the new rookie could kick _your_ sorry ass."

"New guy, huh? He like games? It's still early... invite him over."

"She," Reno corrected him, "And I don't think I'm gonna be introducin' her to you 'til I've broken her in a little."

"Huh... Didn't know there _were_ any female Turks. Thought you guys were an all-boys club."

"Nah... we're equal opportunity scumbags. Just haven't had a lot of female recruits to choose from in awhile."

"She hot?" Kel asked. Reno glared at him. "Hey, just askin'..."

"Yeah, she's hot," Reno replied, rolling his eyes, "She can also hit a target dead center from two hundred yards with a fuckin' handgun... so if I ever bring her by, I'd suggest keepin' it in your pants. Might be a small target, but she could still shoot it off, ya piss her off enough."

Kel elbowed him and reset the level.

"So?" he prodded.

"So what?" Reno asked as he prepared for the next round.

"So, what's she like? What's her name? Details, man!"

"Ah, for fuck's sake," Reno sighed, "Her name's Elena. Five-four, hundred thirty pounds, blonde hair, brown eyes... kind of a prude, very possibly a virgin. But trust me, ya don't wanna get on that girl's bad side."

"... She got a sister?"

"Background file says she's got a couple of brothers... Want me to set ya up?" the redhead replied, grinning as he started the round.

~fin~


	3. Scene 3

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 3**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene Notes:**_ _In Chapter 3: Rude Awakenings, one of Reno's pranks was airlifting Elena's car onto the roof of the Shinra Building. She had to get it down somehow..._

" _Reno had returned the favor the following afternoon by airlifting Elena's car to the roof of the Shinra Building and refusing to bring it back down. The rookie had finally been forced to appeal to Tseng for help, as she was not trained as a pilot herself."_

* * *

A tentative knock pulled Tseng's attention away from his current project. He wasn't sure whether to be annoyed or grateful for the interruption. Department requests were one of the most tedious parts of his job... but it was also nearing nine o'clock, and he really didn't have any desire to be at the task all night. One of these day's he'd stop putting it off until the last minute. Of course that's what he told himself _every_ month.

"Yes?" he called out. The door wasn't closed, but his visitor seemed to be hovering just out of sight, as if already regretting having disturbed him.

"S-sir?" a soft voice queried somewhat timidly. A blonde head peaked around the doorframe, with a decidedly uncertain expression on its face.

"Elena..." Tseng replied, a little surprised. He'd thought she'd left hours ago. "What are you still doing here?"

"I... um..." she began, her face reddening, "I need some... help... sir."

Tseng raised an eyebrow, wondering what it was that could possibly have the woman so nervous about a simple request for assistance. And why she was making said request at this time of night.

"Indeed? What kind of help?"

Elena cleared her throat. "Reno... er... _moved_ my car, sir," she said, and Tseng could have sworn she actually went a shade or two redder.

"And I suppose he won't tell you where he's put it..." Tseng sighed. This was getting just a little ridiculous. At least, though, it wouldn't be too difficult to rectify. A simple phone call coupled with a thinly veiled threat should suffice.

"N-not exactly, sir," she stammered, "I... I know where it _is._ I just can't... reach it."

"You can't... _reach_... your car..." Tseng repeated, wondering what in the world Reno had done now.

"Yes, sir."

"I know I'm going to regret asking, but... where, pray tell, is your car, Elena?" he asked, pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

"The roof, sir."

"I beg your pardon?" Tseng replied, incredulously.

"Reno airlifted my car onto the roof... sir," Elena said, "I-I tried to get him to bring it down... but... but he wouldn't."

Tseng swore softly in Wutaiian and shook his head. So much for department requests. The Turk leader stood and collected his suit jacket from the back of his chair.

"Come with me," he sighed, pulling it on.

"I'm sorry, sir," she said, meekly.

"There's no need to be. It's hardly your fault Reno took this too far..." Tseng replied, "The joke I can overlook... it's the refusal to end it that irritates me. We'll get it down... and I will have a word with Reno in the morning."

"Thank you, sir," Elena quietly responded, as she followed him towards the elevators.

~fin~


	4. Scene 4

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 4**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene Notes:**_ _Chapter 7: The Island Closest to Heaven and Hell makes mention of Reno's eating habits. This is the dinner Elena was talking about._

" _I'm more concerned with quantity than quality," said Reno, "'Sides… I'm starved."_

" _How can you be?!" she asked in disbelief, "You ate your dinner last night, went back for seconds, and then ate at least a third of mine!"_

* * *

"Reno?" Elena prodded.

"Mmph?"

"I know it looks like rain, but that doesn't mean you have to inhale every scrap of food in sight before it gets here..."

Reno paused in his efforts to cram most of a bowl of instant mashed potatoes into his mouth and swallowed... with no small amount of effort. He'd already downed the last two remaining sandwiches from the day before while the potatoes were rehydrating. Now he'd started in on them with gusto, and at the rate he was going, Elena had a feeling it wouldn't be long before he got to the beef stew she'd just finished heating from the can as well. It was actually making her a little ill seeing him gorge himself like that... particularly after their _first_ dinner on the island had left her sicker than she could remember being in years for doing the very same thing.

"I'm hungry," he replied with a shrug. She stared at him between bites of her own meal, trying to figure out how in the hell he managed to pack so much food into such a slender body. The potatoes disappeared, and he went for the stew, leaving Elena grateful that's she'd already claimed her portion. She didn't think she'd be getting seconds tonight.

And she was right.

Minutes later, Reno scraped the last of the food out of the cooking pot and sighed.

"That's it?" he queried, looking a little annoyed by the prospect.

"You just ate enough for three people," Elena informed him, "Keep it up, and we'll be living on nuts and berries before we make it halfway. Tseng only packed us enough food for two _normal_ people."

Reno scowled and leaned back against the fallen log he'd propped himself up against, as Elena continued to eat at a more sane pace. It wasn't long before she became keenly aware that he was watching her... or more accurately, he was watching her bowl. She rolled her eyes.

"Oh, just take it," she muttered, holding it out to him.

"You sure?" he asked, arching an eyebrow.

"If it's either that or having you eying me like scavenger waiting for a kill to be abandoned while I try to eat... yes. Take it."

Reno grinned, and grabbed the bowl from her, finishing off the small amount that was left. Elena watched him the whole time.

"What?" he asked, licking the back of the spoon. Elena shook her head.

"I'm just trying to figure out where it all goes..." she replied.

~fin~


	5. Scene 5

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 5**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene Notes:**_ _Poor Elena gets saddled with data entry an awful lot. As mentioned in Chapter 11: Everybunny Dies, here's why. This takes place shortly after Elena's promotion, when she's still learning the ropes._

" _She sighed and filled in yet another digital form from the information on the hard copy, struggling to read Reno's notes. Frankly, she was convinced that her being stuck with Reno's backlog so often had less to do with her being the rookie, and more to do with her being the only person in Midgar who could actually decipher the man's handwriting. Elena was willing to bet that even Reno couldn't read half of what he wrote down."_

* * *

"Rude... Do you have some free time?" Tseng stood in the doorway, a thick folder under his arm. The bald Turk's eyes widened behind his ever-present sunglasses.

"... I... have to check in with someone in Sector 5..." he hurriedly replied, "... Might take awhile."

He was on his feet and out the door before Tseng could order him back. He sighed, realizing his mistake. He should have kept the folder out of sight. The backlog file... or as Reno had long since taken to calling it, The Bane, was entirely too recognizable. Company policy required a hard copy of all incident reports in the reporting Turk's own hand and an electronic copy... personally, Tseng was of the opinion that Heidegger only insisted upon that policy to annoy him. Data entry was, therefore, a tedious, but necessary, chore. One they would all prefer to avoid. Thus the backlog.

Unfortunately, they had all been avoiding it for entirely too long. The folder was at its limit. Two of the rubber bands that tenuously held it together had already snapped, and the third wouldn't last long under the strain. With a groan, he sat down at his own desk. If any progress was to be made, it looked like it was up to him to make it.

Tseng carefully eased the last remaining band off... and winced as it snapped, viciously stinging the exposed skin of his hand in one final act of retaliation for the torment it had endured. He picked up the top report and turned to his computer, preparing to enter it into the Turks database.

As he read the first line, he groaned a second time and massaged his temples, already feeling a headache coming on. How Reno could read his own handwriting was a mystery. Tseng certainly couldn't most of the time. As he debated on whether or not the the report referred to an incident in Sector 5 or Sector 6... or possibly Sector 8, though he couldn't recall any recent missions in that area... he wondered briefly if anyone would notice if he just burned them all.

It was tempting.

He set the report aside for the moment and picked up the next one on the pile. The second he looked at it, he bit back a whimper of frustration. Or dismay. He wasn't entirely sure which he felt more acutely at the moment.

"Reno..." he sighed, shaking his head. He set that report aside, as well, and reached for the next. "Oh, for the love of..." He cut himself off and forced a calming breath... then flipped through the pile until he finally found something legible. Thankfully, Rude was not so inclined toward chicken scratches when it came to filling out reports. He was also far less inclined to leave said reports sitting indefinitely in the backlog, unlike a certain redhead.

Were Reno actually in the office, he'd have chained him to his desk and made him work his way through some of it today... the inevitable protests be damned. Unfortunately, he had an assignment to handle in Junon and wouldn't return until tomorrow.

Tseng looked up from the pile as he heard the door to the Turks' offices open. Perhaps Rude had decided to take pity on him after all. He stood and moved to where he could see into the outer section of the room, only to discover Elena instead. He smiled to himself... The new rookie had no standing assignments, nor any excuse to disappear into the slums for the next four hours. He almost hated to do it to the poor girl... even hesitated for a moment or two. Then he picked up the folder.

"Elena... I have a task for you," he said, striding purposefully over to her and setting it on the corner of her desk.

"Yes, sir?" she said, looking up at him and smiling pleasantly. That was almost Tseng's undoing. He was about to stick her with every Turk's least favorite activity, and she was smiling at him. He came very close to changing his mind... until he glanced down at the folder, and quickly forced down those annoying feelings of guilt.

"This is the incident report backlog," he explained, "Any reports we haven't had time to file electronically end up in here until we can get around to them. I'd like you to see if you can make some progress on it. You should already have access to the database on your computer. It's fairly straightforward to use, but if you have questions, I'll be at my desk for awhile. I'll warn you now. Reno's handwriting can be... trying."

Trying? Try illegible... or indecipherable. Tseng wasn't even sure some of it was actual writing.

"Oh, I know, sir," she replied, somewhat offhandedly, opening the folder and picking up the topmost report. "He leaves me notes on training exercises, and they can be a little hard to read sometimes."

Tseng's jaw dropped slightly. 'A little hard to read?' he thought, incredulously, ' _Sometimes_?' He suddenly realized she was already typing. The rookie glanced up at him.

"W-was there something else, sir?" she asked. Tseng quickly shook his head.

"No... No, that's all. Thank you, Elena," he replied. He returned to his own desk, taking a seat, and staring blankly at the monitor for a moment. Finally, a wide smile spread across his face, and he had to stop himself from laughing aloud.

He was free... Finally free.

~fin~


	6. Scene 6

**Taking Care or Reno: Interludes – Scene 6**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene Notes:**_ _Reno was kind of an asshole to Elena at first. Just how much of an asshole? Well, let's start at the beginning..._

 _From Chapter 1: It Starts:_

" _Reno had been making her life difficult from the moment she'd been promoted to probationary status. He seemed to find fault with everything she did – though she grudgingly had to admit that sometimes he did have a valid point. Still, he didn't have to be such an asshole about it. She was getting a little tired of being told that she talked too much… or worse, that she was "acting weak", which seemed to be one of his favorite insults. It wasn't so much that she thought he didn't like her personally… he could actually be quite friendly, if a little too casual in his comments, towards her when he felt like it. It was more that she got the distinct impression that Reno thought she didn't deserve to be a Turk; or at the very least wasn't fully convinced of her qualifications yet."_

* * *

"Nervous?" Tseng asked.

"Tch... Me? Be serious, boss..." the Turks second in command said with a dramatic roll of his eyes. "Not like I've never wrangled a rookie before..."

"Not on your own," Tseng pointed out, shrugging, "But if you say so." He chuckled knowingly. "Though if you're really so decidedly _not_ nervous, you might consider relaxing your posture a bit. You look as though you're about to be marched into my office for a reprimand."

Reno scowled, and folded his arms across his chest, turning his gaze toward the lazily rising sun. Normally, it was so windy on the roof of the Shinra Building, he could hardly hear a person mere feet away from him unless they were shouting. It was still early enough, though, that the wind hadn't picked up yet. He bit back a yawn, and shifted his weight to one foot, falling into his usual slouch. He hated to admit it, but Tseng was right. He _was_ nervous. Horribly nervous. He'd even skipped breakfast... something he had a feeling he'd be regretting later.

"You're certain about this recruit? I know she scored quite high on the qualifications, but I still worry about her being able to work as part of a team. She's very... guarded. There's still time to change your mind, you know."

"Fuck that... I'm sure," Reno replied. He had a good feeling about his choice. Sure, she'd need some work to toughen her up a little, and she definitely had issues trusting someone else to watch her back for her... but he'd known she was a Turk from the moment he'd laid eyes on her. Anything he could dish out, she'd be able to take... even if she didn't know it herself yet.

Of course, that was also what had him so apprehensive. She was definitely not going to like him... not at first, anyway. Maybe not ever, when it came right down to it, though Tseng had assured him otherwise. In fact, she was probably going to outright hate him for a while, because he was _not_ going to go easy on her. He couldn't.

The sound of helicopter blades cutting through the still air caught his attention, and both Turks turned towards the source. She was coming from Junon... final evaluations were always held there rather than Midgar. The unfamiliar setting added an extra element of discomfort to the process. They'd been there, watching, of course... but he and Tseng had returned the previous evening.

"Why'd we have to fly her back at the asscrack of dawn, anyway?" he muttered, petulantly, "I coulda done with a couple more hours' sleep, ya know..."

Tseng smirked. "I thought having her meet you while you're still in one of your wonderful early-morning moods might prove helpful to you. You're such a joy to be around at five a.m."

"Sarcasm really doesn't suit you, Tseng," Reno retorted as the helicopter came into view in the distance. The Turk leader laughed softly, and placed a hand at the back of Reno's neck, gently kneading the tense muscles.

"Hmph... no... not nervous at all..." he commented, his tone uncharacteristically snarky, as Reno instinctively relaxed a bit before shaking off his grasp with a half-hearted glare.

"What am I? Five?" he asked, though the annoyed tone was noticeably forced.

"You do occasionally act like it."

Reno finally cracked a smile at that. " _Someone's_ in an interesting mood this morning..." he replied. It was rare for Tseng to tease him so relentlessly, and he got the distinct impression that he was trying to calm him down a bit. The copter reached its destination, and the sudden downdraft from its rotors nearly caught him off-guard. Reno watched as the craft descended and touched down on the helipad, the engines whining to a stop. He held his position as Tseng moved forward and escorted the young woman from the vehicle.

He couldn't quite hear what Tseng was saying to her from where he stood. The wind was starting to kick up a bit as the sun rose higher in the sky. Eventually, though, they drew close enough for conversation.

"Allow me to introduce you to my second in command. Reno, meet Elena Brewer," the Wutaiian said cordially.

His first impression was that she looked slightly terrified and more than a little defensive, and he internally sighed. He had his work cut out for him... and it was time to get started.

"So you're my new rookie, huh?" he said, smirking.

"Y-yes, sir," Elena replied, stammering timidly. Well, if she was going to hate him anyway, at least he could enjoy making her squirm a bit.

"Tch... It's just Reno," he said, "And don't act so weak. You wanna be a Turk, fuckin' speak up like ya mean it." He wrapped an arm around her, his hand just millimeters shy of actually groping her, and she shifted uncomfortably in his grip... though she didn't try to pull away. One way or another, he was eventually going to make her stand up for herself. He grinned, suggestively. "So, 'Lena... you single or what?"

~fin~


	7. Scene 7

**Taking Care or Reno: Interludes – Scene 7**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene Notes:**_ _Reno can be a jerk, but Elena's gotten in her fair shares of pranks against him, too._

 _From Chapter 5: Long Way Down_

" _Elena couldn't remember ever having derived so much enjoyment from lime Jell-O, for instance. She'd forced Reno to choke down every last drop of the lime Jell-O he'd taken the liberty of filling her bathtub with when she's finally caught up with him outside of the Sordid Rose… and ever since, the mere sight of the wobbly dessert turned him a shade of green to match. She'd made a point of requesting it in the cafeteria every day for the last week."_

* * *

"Oh, fuck... no more. Seriously, 'Lena... this is gonna kill me."

The rookie stood, practically towering above his kneeling form, arms crossed, an annoyed expression on her face. "Keep going, Reno."

The redhead moaned, leaning his forehead against the cool edge of the bathtub. He was going to puke... he was sure of it. He'd never in his life been sick simply from eating too much, but there was a first time for everything. One arm wrapped protectively around his stomach as he forced himself to lean forward and lift another spoonful of the gelatinous green dessert to his mouth.

Just the subtle scent of overly-sweetened lime was almost enough to make him gag at this point. He choked it down, tears prickling at the corners of his eyes as he forced it to _stay_ down.

When she'd made the demand, he'd thought it would be practically effortless... possibly even enjoyable. He liked Jell-O. What was a bathtub full of it to him? He could eat enough to feed a small army... a little flavored gelatin should have been no problem at all. He'd happily agreed to it, in exchange for wiping the slate clean on this particular prank.

He had grossly underestimated just how much lime Jell-O a bathtub could hold...

"'Lena... please..." he pleaded. He didn't give a shit how undignified he sounded. He couldn't take much more. Worse, he was barely halfway through. Reno looked up at her miserably, eyes begging her to show him mercy. "I'll never do anything like this again... I swear..." His stomach suddenly lurched, and he clapped a hand over his mouth, groaning as he squeezed his eyes shut. Just the thought of another bite was making him nauseous.

"Weeeell..." the rookie said in a thoughtful tone. Reno waited several agonizing seconds for her to continue. "Okay... I guess you've learned your lesson. You can go." The redhead sighed in relief and staggered to his feet, ignoring the smug look on Elena's face. He may have deserved his fate, but that didn't mean he'd _ever_ admit it to her.

As dragged himself out of her apartment, it occurred to him that Elena had never been so vindictive before. Oh, sure... she'd matched him prank for prank, sometimes even one-upping him... but he'd never seen her take such gleeful delight in his suffering. He wasn't sure whether to be disturbed or impressed.

One thing he _was_ sure of, though... He was never eating lime Jell-O again as long as he lived.

~fin~


	8. Scene 8

**Taking Care or Reno: Interludes – Scene 8**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene Notes:**_ _What_ _ **did**_ _Elena miss out on while she was off running errands for Tseng?_

 _From Chapter 20: Down to the Market..._

"… _Back so soon?" Rude greeted him, "You didn't skip out on Ward after we dropped you off, did you?"_

 _Reno growled something that sounded suspiciously like "Dropped me off, my ass," and sat down at his desk._

" _What exactly did I miss?" Elena asked. She'd left to deliver a stack of requisition forms as a favor to_

 _Tseng before Reno had come in that morning… and apparently had missed out on the fun._

" _Don't worry… I have it on video," Rude assured her._

* * *

Reno had barely stepped out of the elevator when they came at him, attacking from either side. How long they'd been lying in wait, he had no idea. He was running late this morning, and unless _someone_ had been watching the security cameras – which was a distinct possibility – they wouldn't have known he was on his way up.

"Hold him down." The command wasn't shouted, but spoken forcefully enough that the response was immediate. Reno found himself expertly pinned, facedown, on the cold tile floor and disarmed.

"Goddammit, what the fu– mmph!" His protest was indelicately curtailed when a cloth was stuffed into his mouth and taped in place. Reno thrashed wildly in an attempt to free himself, but it was two against one, and he was on the losing side. Cool metal encircled his wrists, binding his arms behind his back.

"His legs, as well... I'm not taking any chances on him running this time."

Reno did what he could to voice a complaint... though it was little more than a series of muffled grunts through the gag... as he was stripped of his belt. Moments later, it was used to strap his ankles together. His captors turned him over, and he glared up at them both, a look of pure vitriol in his eyes.

"I _am_ sorry about this Reno, but you've left me with no alternative. You've been warned repeatedly, and you've had ample opportunity to take care of this on your own."

Reno's eyes narrowed at the pair of assailants. "Mmph muuh..." His glare deepened. That probably would have sounded a lot more biting if he hadn't been gagged. His ire was met with a serene smile, and a gentle ruffle of his hair.

"Rude... if you would?"

The bald man snorted softly in amusement, and picked him up. He effortlessly laid him, doubled over, across a shoulder. The trio stepped aboard the elevator, and Tseng pressed a button.

"Mmmph..." Reno groaned, eyes wide, begging Tseng to reconsider.

"Spare me the pleading looks. You're going." Tseng crossed his arms as the elevator doors closed and the car began its decent. "Really, Reno... I will never understand why you always insist on making such a production of this."

The redhead whimpered softly, squirming uncomfortably in Rude's grip.

"Well, if you weren't so prone to disappearing, I wouldn't have to resort to such drastic measures."

The elevator chimed as it reached the floor. Tseng stepped out ahead of them, leading the way down the hall, and Reno cringed as they arrived at an all-too-familiar door at the end of it. He wondered briefly whether or not he'd have time to get loose before his partner recovered if he were to throw himself to the ground, and tested the give on his handcuffs. They were tight. Much too tight to work his way out of without hurting himself.

He moaned in frustration as they stepped through the door.

"Ah... I see yeh've brought me a little present..." a lilting female voice teased. From his current position, he couldn't see who'd spoken, but he didn't need to. It was a voice he recognized. "Well, set him down on the table, then..."

Reno grunted as he was roughly dropped on the the scratchy white sheet that covered the padded surface. Rude patted him on the shoulder.

"Mmphmuh..." The incoherence didn't seem to matter. Rude chuckled at the attempted insult.

"One redhead... as requested. You may release him at your leisure," Tseng said, offering the handcuff key to Dr. Ward.

"Thank yeh... Shouldn't take long. I'll have him back to yeh before yeh know it. Provided he cooperates, of course."

Tseng nodded to Rude, who carefully pulled the tape away from Reno's mouth and removed the gag.

"Traitor..." he hissed at his partner, a petulant note to his voice. The bald Turk smiled.

"It's for your own good," Rude replied, smirking at the younger man's sour expression. Reno growled indignantly.

"Alright, enough of yer teasin'. I've got a patient to see ta. Off with yeh both." The physician shooed the two men out, and turned back to Reno, wagging a stern finger at him. "And as for you... I want no trouble from yeh."

"Don't 'spose I can talk ya into just lettin' me go back upstairs... No one would ever know. I'm perfectly healthy, Doc!"

Dr. Ward cast him a warning glance before releasing him from his restraints with practiced ease.

"Yer due for an exam and a tetanus vaccination, and that's _exactly_ what yer getting. And if yeh behave yerself, you'll get yer treat when I'm done," she said, firmly. She pressed a neatly folded gown against his chest. "Now... yeh know the drill."

Ward disappeared behind the privacy screen, leaving Reno to himself. He sighed in resignation and began to undress.

"The things I do for a fuckin' piece of candy..." he muttered.

~fin~


	9. Scene 9

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes – Scene 9**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Author's Note:**_ _So... unlike most of the other interludes, this one isn't referenced anywhere in the existing series. It's a scene I wrote as an intro to Chapter 25: The Games We Play, and dropped in favor of Reno getting suckered into babysitting. But I liked it too much to just let it go to waste._

* * *

Reno stared at the rookie as she silently read over the short message printed on the card for the fourth time since she'd sat down.

"Okay... whatever the hell's written on that, it can't possibly be _that_ interesting."

She jumped slightly, startled by the unexpected interruption and Reno grinned. Sometimes, it was just too easy. Elena set the card aside, and settled back in her chair trying to look casual and unconcerned. Reno wasn't buying it.

"It's nothing. It's just... Nothing."

"Yeah... sure sounds like it. So what's up?" he asked, propping his feet up on the edge of his desk and leaning his chair back at a somewhat precarious angle. He laced his fingers together behind his head and stared at her.

"... Reno?" she queried, looking up at him almost pleadingly, "Can I ask you for a really big favor?"

"Ya can always _ask_..." he replied, though really... it would have to be one hell of an inconvenience before he'd consider refusing her. He enjoyed doing things for his friends... Elena in particular. That didn't mean he wasn't still fond of making the rookie squirm a little from time to time. Old habits were hard to break, after all...

"Will you be my boyfriend?"

" _What?!_ " Reno tried, and failed, to sit up from the entirely too relaxed position he'd let himself fall into. With his legs on the desk, he couldn't find the leverage needed to push himself upright. The redhead suddenly found himself tilting dangerously in the opposite direction he wanted to go. The chair toppled over backwards, spilling the surprised Turk onto the tile floor with a resounding crash.

"Are you alright?!" Elena was on her feet by then, moving toward him to help. Reno winced and dragged himself to his feet before she could cover the distance between them, staggering slightly as he nearly tripped over the fallen office furniture in the process.

"Uh... 'Lena, don't get me wrong... you're awesome and I love ya and all, but... what the hell?"

The rookie sniggered quietly and picked up the chair for him. "I need a boyfriend," she reiterated. "For a wedding."

"Wouldn't that make me your fiance?" Reno asked, looking at her askance with no small amount of trepidation.

"Oh, for... I. Need. A. Date." She shook her head, giggling a little. "You know... someone to take me _to_ a wedding."

He sighed in relief. "Why the hell didn't you just say that in the first place? Fuck, 'Lena... ya almost gave me a heart attack. One night stands I'm good with... commitment, not so much."

"Well, it's just that... I need you for a little more than just a date..." she explained, hesitating.

He flashed her a teasingly lecherous smirk and sidled up to her. "Yeah? How _much_ more?" Elena rolled her eyes and removed the arm he'd draped over her shoulders.

"I'm serious."

"Okay... So ya want me to... what? Sweet-talk the maid of honor into a quickie in the coat room at the reception or somethin'?" he joked, wondering just what it was Elena was planning.

"NO!" she all but shouted at him. Reno blinked, slightly taken aback by the angry look in Elena's eyes. She dropped her gaze, and he realized she was blushing a little. "Look... This is going to sound really, _really_ shallow, okay? The wedding is for one of my best friends from school, and I really want to go... but..."

"But..."

"But, her maid of honor is a girl named Penta, and... ugh. She made high school a living hell for me. The only reason she's even the maid of honor at all is because she's the groom's sister. Chai doesn't even really like her... but _her_ choice had to bow out at the last minute."

"Still not quite seein' how I fit in here..."

"You absolutely cannot laugh," she said firmly.

"Me? Laugh?" He let his grin widen at the sight of her scowl. She had to know better by now... saying something like that was the best way to ensure that's _exactly_ what he'd do.

"Penta stole every guy I was even _remotely_ interested in in high school. I couldn't even get a date for senior prom because of her and she did it just to spite me."

"... Why?" he asked, feeling perplexed as to how someone could dislike Elena to such an extent. Sure, maybe he was biased... but Elena was incredibly sweet – even if she could, admittedly, be a little scary when she was pissed off. He'd always had her figured for one of the popular kids. Maybe even a cheerleader. She certainly fit the stereotype, anyway. Blond... pretty... outgoing...

"Because I offered to tutor her boyfriend in history once. I felt bad for him... he was a nice guy, and he was failing the class because his mom was sick and he didn't have time to study. She thought I was trying to steal him, and... yeah. After that, I was basically a social pariah until I graduated because of her." The bitterness in her voice was practically tangible. Reno found himself instantly disliking this Penta woman.

"So... basically ya want me to be your trophy boyfriend for the night so you can rub it in her face..." he snickered. He could handle that. Elena flushed bright red.

"... No! Well... kinda... yeah. Look, I told you it was really shallow! I just want to see the look on her face when I walk in with... someone like you." She looked away slightly, not quite able to make eye contact.

"Someone like me? Come on 'Lena... just say it. I'm pretty..." he teased, though he couldn't help but feel a little flattered by the request. Elena rolled her eyes yet again. "Ya keep doin' that, they're gonna get stuck back there..."

"Will you do it or not?"

"Open bar at the reception?" he asked. Of course he was going to do it... but he might as well find out what he was getting out of the deal before letting _her_ know that.

"Yes. And a buffet."

"Count me in..."

The rookie gave him a relieved look. "Thanks, Reno..."

"... _IF_ ya tell me I'm pretty..." He couldn't resist... He'd come close a few times to getting the perky young woman to admit she found him attractive, but had never gotten her to actually say the words. It had become something of a personal challenge, and Reno just couldn't resist a challenge. Besides which... it was good for the rookie to be shoved out of her comfort zone ever now and then. Kept things interesting.

"W-what?"

"Two little words and I'm all yours."

"Are you really serious?" she asked, hands on her hips, her posture radiating annoyance.

"Come on... You can do it..." he prodded her, grinning maniacally.

Elena groaned and rubbed her temples. "Fine... You're pretty."

"There... now was that so bad?"

She shook her head and walked back over to her desk. "You're pretty, alright... pretty irritating."

Reno laughed, unable to honestly deny the accusation.

~fin~


	10. Scene 10

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 10**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Author's note:**_ _If any of you readers have suggestions of a particular idea that should expanded on please review and let me know. :)_

* * *

 _ **Scene notes:**_ _This takes place immediately following Chapter 15: Family Matters:_

" _B-but... we can't make it all the way back to Midgar from here on just what we have in the tank..."_

" _'Course we can't. That's why we're stopping in Costa del Sol," he said, his grin widening, "And since we'll be there anyway, why not take the opportunity to enjoy the beach without someone tryin' to kill us?"_

" _I... but... can we just do that?"_

" _Why not? We're officially off duty for four more days. Worst case scenario, Tseng's kinda pissed at me for borrowing the copter without tellin' him... which he's probably gonna be anyway, so I might as well make the most of it."_

* * *

"Oh, come on, Reno... It was your idea to come here! You can't just sit in the bar all day..."

Reno sighed and took a long sip of icy cold beer before deigning to shift his focus back to the rookie.

"And I'm not gonna. But I'm not goin' _anywhere_ this time of day," he replied. It was just past noon... they'd arrived a scant hour ago, found a room, and enjoyed an early lunch. And then the redhead had happily found himself a seat at the bar and ordered himself a beer. He was presently on his fourth.

"But I want to have some fun on the beach..."

"So? What's stoppin' ya?" he asked, amused by the woman's hesitation to leave him alone after their little misadventure. And a little touched by it, as well. He grinned. "I promise I'll try 'n avoid bein' taken hostage while you're gone."

Elena huffed in irritation and crossed her arms over her chest. "What was the point of coming to a beach resort if you weren't going to hang out on the beach?"

Reno drained the bottle and then gave her a somewhat disbelieving look. "You serious?"

"What?"

"'Lena, have you looked at me lately?" he asked, with a snicker. "You have any idea what the sun'll do to me right now? Us redheads don't tan. We fry. I'm not going out there 'til it's a little less... direct."

The rookie rolled her eyes and grabbed him by the arm, dragging him bodily off the bar stool. "Come on, you big baby. I have sunscreen you can use."

"Unless it's somethin' like SPF five million and I bathe in it, this is gonna end badly..." he cautioned her, but against his better judgment, he let the woman coax him out of the bar and into the bright afternoon sun as she led him back towards their room.

"Now sit there hold still," Elena said cheerfully, pushing him down onto the edge of the bed, before digging through the little bag of of purchases she'd made upon their arrival and coming up with a small plastic bottle. Reno stripped off his t-shirt, and frowned slightly.

"I'm tellin' ya... I'm better off just waitin' 'til later..."

She pointedly ignore him as she slipped in behind him and poured some of the sunscreen onto her hands. Reno flinched slightly at the sudden contact of cool lotion on bare skin as Elena began applying it to his back and shoulders, but relaxed moments later, enjoying the feeling of her soft hands on his body and her thoroughness as she rubbed it in. And she _was_ being thorough... even going to far as to add a second coat. _Maybe_ he could get away with it. It'd be nice to enjoy the whole day while he was here for once, instead of hiding out like a vampire until the sun wandered away from its apex.

"There... All protected from the mean, nasty sun," she declared, happily, "Now let's go... There's a volleyball tournament starting."

* * *

 _Several hours later..._

Reno was laid out flat on his stomach across the bed. He didn't dare move. Every time he moved, it felt like the skin was being flayed from his back. He moaned loudly to the empty room. A few minutes later he heard the door open, but he didn't bother trying to turn his head to look.

If he was lucky, it was someone coming to put him out of his misery.

"I... um... got something for the sunburn..." a hesitant voice ventured. Reno didn't answer. Figures he wouldn't be _that_ lucky. He felt the edge of the bed dip slightly as a weight settled next to him. "Here... This should make it feel a little better."

He cringed as fire met ice, and he was almost shocked when whatever the rookie was pouring onto his back didn't simply start to sizzle against the intense heat of his sun-scorched shoulders. By all rights, it should have. Then came her hands.

"Ow... Ow! Not so rough!" he whined, tensing under the uncomfortable pressure of her touch with a whimper. She quickly pulled away from him briefly, and then resumed smoothing the mystery remedy into his skin with a much lighter caress. It took her several minutes to cover everything. When she was done, he had to admit... he didn't feel quite so raw. It still hurt like bitch, though.

"I am _so_ sorry, Reno..."

As tempted as he was to blame her for his current predicament, it was really his own fault. He knew better. He'd had this same painful experience on more than one occasion. He'd known exactly what would happen... and he'd let her talk him into it anyway. Just like he'd let Rude talk him into it a couple of years ago. And Tseng, a year or so before that. And that blonde he'd met the last time he was here on his time off. Come to think of it, he was really bad about letting people talk him into roasting himself alive...

"'Lena... do me a favor. Next time we take a vacation together, just leave me in the fucking bar."

~fin~


	11. Scene 11

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 11**

 **by Desha**

 **Scene Notes:** _In Chapter 21: Where There's Smoke, Reno seriously misjudges someone's character._

" _Asshole turned up on a security camera. Never get a real good look at him, but I've seen the guy enough times to recognize him. Works on nineteen... and he's been botherin' 'Lena in the gym practically since her promotion."_

 _Tseng frowned. "And you never thought to mention this?" he replied, a little more snappishly than he'd intended._

" _... I... honestly didn't think he was dangerous," Reno reluctantly admitted, "Neither did 'Lena."_

" _Find him, bring him in, and then contact me before you do anything further" Tseng replied evenly. He'd deal with Reno's lapse in judgment later._

* * *

"Reno... Do you have a moment?"

The redhead grimaced before turning to look over at Tseng. He'd been waiting for this most of the day. Not looking forward to it... but most definitely expecting it. He suspected Tseng had waited until it was nearly quitting time just to set him farther on edge.

"Yeah, boss. I'm not busy." He stood as the Turk leader gestured to his office, and obeyed the silent command. The door shut behind him with a foreboding thud. This was never a pleasant experience.

"I assume you already have an idea of what I wish to discuss..." Tseng said as he rounded his desk and took a seat, calmly resting his elbows on the dark wooden surface and steepling his fingers in front of him. Reno swallowed sharply... That posture was never a good sign. He opted to remain standing rather than claiming the chair opposite the Wutaiian, falling into a stiff, formal stance.

"Yes, sir," he replied. It was odd how he felt such a driving compulsion to address his friend so formally when he was in trouble... as if he would be any _less_ in trouble because of a little added respect. Tseng had been much more than a mere leader to him for so many years... He'd become almost a surrogate parent to him in many ways. Right now, however... Tseng wasn't his friend, and he wasn't his mentor. He was head of Shinra Company's Turks... and he wasn't especially happy with his second in command.

"Elena could have died."

Reno felt his chest tighten at that simple statement. It certainly wasn't that he hadn't realized that – the thought had been in the back of his mind all day, piling guilt on top of more guilt, and would probably stay there all weekend until he finally saw her back at work. Somehow, though, hearing it made it worse.

"Yes, sir." He let his eyes close for a brief moment, unable to meet the other man's gaze. This never seemed to change. No matter how old he got, no matter how many times he stood in this very spot... knowing that he'd disappointed the man always managed to reduce him to feeling like a fresh recruit again.

"You said you knew about Carson March beforehand. For how long?"

"Months," Reno reluctantly admitted. "'Lena... mentioned it to me barely three weeks after she was promoted. I kept an eye on him for awhile, but he didn't strike me as the type who'd do anything more than look and maybe make the occasional suggestive comment. 'Lena was more annoyed by the guy than afraid of him, and I... I thought it would better for her if I let _her_ deal with it and only step in if it got out of hand. It... kinda turned into a joke. The creepy gym guy from nineteen. If I'd _ever_ thought he was even remotely capable of pullin' what he pulled, I'da beat the shit outta him as soon as she told me about it."

 _That_ was perhaps what most made him feel like this was entirely his fault. Usually, Reno prided himself on being an excellent judge of character and reading the intentions of others. Somehow though... March had slipped under his radar. And Elena had been the one to pay for it.

"I see." There was no emotion in words... but neither was there judgment. Tseng was silent for a few moments before continuing. "I very much doubt there is any need to impress upon you the magnitude of your choice not to take such behavior more seriously, but I'm going to, regardless. Particularly given that you yourself behave in much the same fashion at times. _Your_ intentions may be harmless... that's not true of everyone."

He really had no response to that. It wasn't as if he didn't _know_ that. The fact was that he knew it all too well, and still had largely ignored the situation until had unexpectedly spiraled out of control. Thankfully, Tseng seemed to take his silence for acknowledgment.

"I don't need to remind you that Elena is your responsibility."

Had the subject matter not been so serious, Reno would have laughed. Tseng didn't _need_ to remind him of that... but he'd intentionally just done so, anyway. The fact that he'd so thoroughly failed in that responsibility had been weighing heavily on him all day. That Elena had be out on mandatory leave since her release from the hospital didn't help, either.

"No, sir. You don't," he replied, dropping his gaze to the floor.

"Reno... sit down."

He repressed the urge to sigh and let himself settle into the chair beside him. Tseng stood and slipped behind him, placing his hands on the younger man's shoulders, and kneading gently at the muscles. The redhead hadn't even realized just how tense he'd gotten until that tension was so suddenly released.

"Don't think for moment that I don't understand just how upset you are with yourself. I doubt I could say anything right now that would make you feel much worse about what happened than you already do... and, in any case, I wouldn't wish to. I've made my share of mistakes over the years, as you well know. You're not perfect, and you never will be. You can only do your best."

"So what if my best isn't good enough?" Reno asked, voicing the question that had seemed to plague him ever since the rookie's promotion.

Tseng chuckled softly. "Welcome to my world." He gave the back of Reno's neck one final squeeze before drawing away. "I think you've had enough for one lecture. And I believe we are now officially off duty. Let's go and see if Elena has managed to keep herself entertained today, shall we?"

~fin~


	12. Scene 12

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 12**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene Notes:**_ _Lira is convinced Reno and Elena would make a cute couple. This is how she decided to broach the subject with everyone's favorite redhead. This takes place immediately before Chapter 24: When Things Fall:_

" _Sorry 'bout her, 'Lena... Lira's almost worse than I am when it comes to sayin' whatever's on her mind." The two Turks had already gone several blocks at a light jog. "Plus she's got it in her head that you 'n me should be a thing..."_

" _Don't worry abo– Wait, what?" Elena stopped dead, trying to process that. Reno slowed to a stop as well and turned to look back at her, laughing._

" _Just ignore her... She's way off base. I know you're not lookin' for anything like that from me." He grinned teasingly, and added, "Course if you ever change your mind on that..."_

* * *

Reno laid back against the pillows, eyes closed, and relaxed as teasing fingertips traced a slow, gentle pattern on his chest. He shifted almost imperceptibly, and let his arm wrap around the warm body next to him.

"Mmm... We _really_ need to do that more often. It's been so long, I'd almost forgotten how much fun you can be. You're all business these days," Lira purred.

"Offer's still open to get you topside. Hell of a lot easier to come see me if you're up here full time..." He toyed with her hair, drawing a contented sigh from the woman. She'd turn him down again. She always did. He'd been trying to coax her out of the slums for almost as long as he'd been out of them himself. Lira had never told him why she wanted to stay in Wall Market... but she was adamant about it. She was his friend, though... he'd keep offering anyway. Maybe one of these days she'd finally be ready to leave that life behind.

Lira leaned over him and kissed his throat, her lips slowly making their way down along his collar bone and across his chest, and he shuddered at the pleasant sensation it left behind on his skin. "Now what would your little girlfriend have to say about that?" she teased.

Reno lifted his head just enough to see her grinning impishly at him.

"The fuck are you talkin' about?" he asked, one eyebrow rising in confusion.

"Oh, you know... Your girlfriend. Cute little blond... Looks _much_ better as a redhead."

He rolled his eyes and let his head drop, letting his eyes drift closed again. "'Lena's not my girlfriend."

"She should be."

"Lira..." He wasn't sure where this was coming from, but at the moment, he wasn't at all interested in discussing it. Though her very soft lips drifting teasingly past his navel were _getting_ himinterested in doing something else...

"I'm just sayin'... you two are cute together."

Reno groaned softly... both in response to the woman's pronouncement, and to what her hand was suddenly doing under the sheets.

"You're outta your mind, Lira. 'Lena's more like a little sister. And besides... she's not interested."

"Oh, _please._ She's only like a little sister 'cause that's what you're settlin' for. I've seen how you look at her. You'd _love_ to get her into bed. And not just because she's so pretty. You really connect with her."

"Do we have to talk about this now?" he managed, gasping involuntarily. He hated it when she started trying to meddle in his personal life, and doing it _now_ was downright unfair. Hell, if _that_ hadn't felt so good, he'd have cut their evening short. Well... Maybe. He'd at least have put things on hold for a few minutes until she was feeling a little less talkative.

"The only reason you haven't made a move on her... an _actual_ move, not your pervy bullshitting... is because you've got yourself so convinced she's too good for you, you've talked yourself right the hell out of it."

"For Ifrit's sake, Lira... are you seriously tryin' to convince me to hook up with someone else, while _you're_ doin' _that_?" he asked, incredulously, fingers curling into the sheets at his side. She suddenly stopped what she was doing and giggled.

"You know what? You're right. Conversation first..." she said grinning maniacally. The redhead couldn't quite manage to hold back a soft whimper of frustration.

"You're fuckin' evil, Lira. Seriously evil."

She shifted back to her earlier position and nuzzled her check against his shoulder.

"And you're not gettin' any more attention if you don't promise me that you will at least make an honest _offer_ to her the next time you see her," Lira replied, nipping lightly at his earlobe. "You're such a sweetheart, Reno... I want to see you happy."

"I am happy."

"I mean _really_ happy."

"Tch... if ya wanna see me _really_ happy, go back to doin' what you were doin' a minute ago... before you decided we desperately needed to discuss my love life..."

"Only if you promise..." she responded in a sing-song voice next to his ear. The soft tickle of her breath against his neck made him shiver.

"... Fine, okay? I'll _offer_ ," he finally conceded, unable to hold out any longer. "But I'm not sayin' anything that's gonna fuck things up with 'Lena. I like things just fine the way they are between us."

"Mmmhmm... You keep just tellin' yourself that." She leaned in and kissed him, laying claim to his lips with her own, and laughing softly when she finally pulled away. "But eventually, you're gonna have to be honest with yourself. Now... where were we?"

Reno smirked, and rolled over, pinning her beneath him. "Round two."

~fin~


	13. Scene 13

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 13**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Author's Note:**_ _The first time Reno ever saw the Gold Saucer was with Tseng, and he was still pretty young at the time. This takes place when he was seventeen, and still a rookie Turk._

 _From Chapter 25: The Games We Play:_

 _Reno grinned and pulled her head down against his shoulder. "Yeah... I tend to overdo it a little here. I can't actually get him to admit it, but I think Tseng has privately vowed never to come back to the Gold Saucer with me for any reason other than business."_

" _You talked him into coming here for something other than business once? What'd you do? Blackmail him?" she chuckled. The Gold Saucer was definitely not somewhere she'd picture Tseng spending his free time. Not voluntarily, at any rate._

" _Nah... It was a birthday present when I was seventeen. He lasted a lot longer than you did... but only 'cause he was smart enough not to join in on the junk food buffet. Still ran him pretty ragged, though..."_

* * *

"So are ya gonna tell me where we're goin' or not?"

Reno's voice had a electric, digitized quality over the headset, but the excitement was plainly audible.

"No. We'll be landing soon enough," Tseng replied, allowing himself a small smile, "And leave that right where it is," he added firmly, when the teenager's hand snuck towards the blindfold that covered his eyes. The young redhead huffed and crossed his arms over his chest, but scant seconds later a grin crept over his face.

"Can I at least have a hint?"

"No."

"Aw, come on, Tseng... it's my birthday. Quit torturin' me!"

The Turks second-in-command chuckled, glancing over at his young rookie fondly. The now-seventeen-year-old had been so shocked when he'd come to collect him that morning... Tseng had the distinct impression that he'd just assumed no one even knew or cared that today was his birthday. And the fact that it hadn't really seemed to bother him had cemented the senior Turk's resolve to make today memorable... which was why his smile widened noticeably as a large structure came into view in the distance.

"I hardly think a blindfolded helicopter ride constitutes torture..."

"Only 'cause you're not the one wearin' the blindfold."

Tseng laughed and banked to the right, circling a small landing zone. "Well, you'll be happy know, the unspeakable torment I've subjected you to is nearly over." He touched down, and Reno sat up straighter in his seat, as the whine of the engine died away.

"Now can I take I off?"

"Not quite yet." Tseng unstrapped him, and helped him to the ground, before slipping behind him and guiding him towards the large cable car that would take them the rest of the way. They stepped aboard, and a few moments later, it began to move forward.

" _Now_ can I take it off?" Reno asked insistently. The teenager was practically vibrating by now, desperate to know what was going on.

"In a moment." He gently urged him into the best position, standing before the large windows at the front of the car, and waited a few more seconds until they'd nearly reached the halfway point.

" _Now?!_ " Reno's voice was pleading, and Tseng wasn't certain he could have kept him from tearing it off much longer anyway. He laughed.

"Now."

The strip of cloth surrendered to the decidedly excessive force rendered upon it, as the redhead intently ripped it away. He blinked, taking in the strange sight ahead of him. It took a moment to register, but then his eyes went wide.

"Whoa..." The next thing Tseng knew, his rookie was pressed against the glass, looking around wildly as the car made its way into the station. It settled at the end of the line with a soft thump, and the doors opened, the Gold Saucer's familiar welcoming music greeting them. He turned back to his mentor, a look of pure joy on his face. "Really?" he asked somewhat breathlessly.

"Happy birthday, Reno," the Wutaiian Turk chuckled. Reno all but tackled him in an enthusiastic hug, before grabbing his arm and pulling him along into the station.

"We have to do _everything_..." he said, almost frantically, and Tseng hurried to keep up with him. It would be a miracle if he survived this trip, he mused... but it was already worth it.

~fin~


	14. Scene 14

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 14**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Author's Note:**_ _Reno wasn't always as dismissive about the way Scarlet goes after him. In fact, the first time it happened was a little traumatic for the poor guy. This takes place at Christmas time when Reno was eighteen._

 _From Chapter 25: The Games We Play:_

" _The situation had ultimately resulted in Tseng taking Reno home with him rather than dropping him off at his own apartment once the rest of the party-goers had been dealt with. The eighteen year old had casually brushed off his concern, but it was obvious he was more than slightly shaken and he hadn't even pretended to argue against the idea of sleeping in Tseng's guest room that night. Reno really hadn't been quite himself for days afterward, and it was only due to the long holiday break that it hadn't affected his job performance... beyond being extremely hesitant to ever have anything to do with Scarlet again, of course. Over the years, Reno had come to be more annoyed by her attempts than traumatized by them... though it didn't make Tseng wish any less that she would simply leave him be."_

* * *

He'd been silent for the entire drive. Tseng hadn't heard so much as a peep from his rookie, and it was starting to worry him. Reno was never _this_ quiet.

"I'm sure our _own_ Christmas party is still going on at Veld's... if you'd like to go back."

"No thanks," the redhead said softly before lapsing into silence again. Tseng frowned, and began to worry.

When he'd found him, Scarlet'd had him pressed against the wall of the elevator car, drunkenly kissing him. Her hand had been down his pants, fondling him... rather roughly, judging by the look he'd had on his face. Reno, meanwhile, had been lost. Lost and terrified. Even from a distance, Tseng could tell he was panicking... torn between self-preservation and the fact that the woman who was unapologetically molesting him was one of the company executives.

Tseng hadn't hesitated... To hell with her seniority. He'd be damned if he was going to her do that to his rookie. He'd had to _physically_ pull her off of the teenager... and he hadn't been gentle about it, either. Somehow Scarlet had managed to stay on her feet, laughing maniacally, as though it was the funniest thing that had ever happened to her... it had only served to stoke the Wutaiian's own fury, but he'd clamped down on it. Barely.

Scarlet tried the same tactic on him as well before the liquor finally got the better of her and she passed out at his feet. He didn't bother trying to catch her. Instead, he'd gone back to the younger Turk. Reno's hands shook noticeably as he zipped his pants back up, and moved slowly toward the unconscious woman.

Between the two of them, they had managed to tuck her into the trunk of Tseng's car... a tight fit, to say the least. Sports cars tended not to have much in terms of cargo space. They'd taken her home, and the senior Turk had hauled her into her condo, dropping her unceremoniously onto the couch and slamming the door angrily behind him.

And now they were here... heading towards Reno's apartment, a light snow falling on the streets of Midgar. The redhead usually loved seeing it snow. Right now, though... he didn't even seem to notice. Waiting at a light, Tseng reached over and rested a hand on the young man's shoulder, and he jumped violently. The senior Turk mentally kicked himself. He _never_ should have left a rookie alone with an executive... especially Scarlet.

"Perhaps you should come home with me tonight..." he found himself saying. The thought of simply dropping Reno off and leaving him on his own didn't sit well. He wanted him close right now.

The rookie shook his head and forced a grin. "What for? I'm fine... Nothin' to worry about."

Tseng studied him for a few more moments until the light changed. "You're coming home with me tonight." This time it wasn't a suggestion. Traffic was non-existent... he cut across two lanes and turned in the direction of home instead. Reno didn't argue.

They pulled into the parking lot and the redhead followed him to his door without comment. Tseng turned on the lights, taking Reno's coat and hanging it, along with his own, on the hooks by the door. It took little effort to coax the younger man into his guest room.

Reno stood at the side of the bed, his back to the Turks second-in-command. "Get some sleep. We can talk in the morning." He turned to go.

"Somehow managed to avoid shit like that all the years I was in Sector 2... Guess my luck finally ran out."

Tseng turned at the sound of Reno's voice, and closed the distance between them, resting his hand on his shoulders. He calmly urged him out of his jacket, along with most of the rest of his clothes, leaving him in only boxers and his shirt.

"Into bed," he ordered, as gently as he could. The redhead obeyed, climbing under the covers, and curling up on his side, his back to the door.

"Tseng?" he queried in a small voice.

The Wutaiian Turk settled himself on the edge of the bed, and placed a hand between Reno's shoulder blades, slowly stroking his back. "I'll stay until you're asleep. And I won't go far after." The younger man finally relaxed then, but Tseng continued to soothe him until he was certain he was out. He had a feeling he'd be spending the rest of his vacation undoing the damage that woman had caused.

If he'd thought he could have gotten away with it... he'd have inflicted some damage of his own on her.

~fin~


	15. Scene 15

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 15**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene Notes:**_ _When Reno and Elena were sent to Costa del Sol, they shared a bed, and Elena ended up cuddling our favorite redhead in her sleep. But what was Reno doing for the two hours before she finally woke up and realized it?_

 _From Chapter 14: Trouble in Paradise:_

" _Oh, just shut up, Reno..." she said at last, setting off peals of laughter from her bedmate. She glared at him, waiting for him to sober a bit, before continuing, "How long have you been awake, anyway? You couldn't have just... nudged me back over?"_

" _And miss out on this? No way," he replied, between giggles, "I've been waitin' two hours for you to wake up just so I could do that..."_

" _Ugh... Reno, you're completely demented." Two hours, just laying there, waiting for her to realize what she was doing. Seriously... who did that?_

* * *

It was still dark when Reno found himself unexpectedly awake. It didn't take him too long to figure out what had suddenly pulled him from the sweet embrace of slumber, either. Elena had just rolled over in her sleep and was now clinging to him tightly, her cheek fervently nuzzling his chest. He snickered softly, unable to avoid laughing at the situation, but hesitant to wake the sleeping rookie.

Had he been slightly less inclined towards such an easy joke, he would have done the gentlemanly thing and untangled himself from her grip so he could coax her back to her side of the bed... As it happened, however, just the thought of the look on the rookie's face when she discovered where she'd ended up was more than enough incentive to let her stay right where she was.

Besides which... Elena was soft and warm, and frankly, he was in a comfortable enough position that he really didn't feel much like moving at the moment anyway. And it certainly wasn't as if she was bothering him. In fact, he was rather enjoying the gentle tickle of her breath on his bare skin. Reno shifted just enough to free his arm and wrap it around her, fingers resting lightly on her hip. His other arm he tucked behind his head, propping himself up slightly so he could watch her sleep.

As much as he enjoyed seeing her turn crimson with embarrassment, he mused silently, sometimes it was kind of a pity she was so uptight... It had – more than once, in fact – crossed his mind that she'd probably be terrific in bed if she'd just let herself go once in awhile. He doubted that would ever change, though... at least not enough for _him_ to ever find out. Tseng seemed to be more her type.

Elena snuggled in a little tighter against him and sighed in content, murmuring something he couldn't quite make out. The redhead smirked... she really was pretty cute like this. It almost made him reconsider letting her stay there until she woke up and inevitably freaked out.

Almost.

Instead, he let his head fall back against the pillow, drifting off into a light doze. There wasn't much chance of him getting himself fully back to sleep... not with Elena so close, moving occasionally against his side like that. It would just keep jarring him awake.

It couldn't have been more than an hour or two before the sun came up, though... and Elena was the definition of 'morning person'. He could lay here perfectly comfortable for that long... particularly if the reward for doing so was seeing the rookie turn that deep shade of red he liked so well...

If it proved as effective as he hoped... maybe he'd see if he could incorporate a similar situation into the rookie's Hell Week. He hadn't checked with Tseng on the exact date yet, but it would be coming up soon, and he was gleefully looking forward to his first chance at proctoring it.

Maybe a little _too_ gleefully, given that he had it halfway planned already...

He grinned widely and settled back to wait.

~fin~


	16. Scene 16

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 16**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene Notes:**_ _How Reno met Lira._

 _From Chapter 20: Down to the Market_

" _Sure... We both grew up over in Sector 2. Met him when he was about... fourteen, fifteen, maybe? Couple of years before Shinra snapped him up, anyway. I was only a year or two older, myself. I'd seen him around before that, of course... he's hard to miss... but didn't really know him well 'til then. He kinda came to my rescue when my Pop got a little rougher than usual with me. Got himself a nasty black eye and a bloody nose for the trouble, too... and he's lucky that's all he walked away with. Pop was about three times his size. Didn't seem to matter to Reno, though."_

* * *

"Worthless little piece of trash!"

The invective was punctuated by a painful slap that sent her tumbling down the short set of stairs that led down from the front door. Lira felt her shoulder connect sharply with the edge of the last one as she suddenly found herself in the street.

He was drunk... Not that that was anything new. Drunk and angry was pretty much a permanent state these days... ever since her mother had run off to Shiva only knew where, and that was going on four years now. She squealed as he hauled her to her feet by her hair, tears making their way down her cheeks. She brought her arms up to try and shield herself, but knew it wasn't going to do any good.

"Twenty three gil! That's _all_ you managed to bring home?!" He may have been drunk, but it never seemed to dampen his physical strength. She didn't stand a chance of getting away... not with his fingers locked viciously into her long black hair. If he didn't _actually_ kill her this time, she was going to cut it all off... She didn't care if it made her look like a boy. It was too much of a liability. "You wanna keep livin' here, you fuckin' earn your keep ya little slut! I don't care if ya gotta bed half the sector!"

Lira braced herself for the blow.

"Hey! Leave her alone!"

She was suddenly dropped as the grip on her scalp was released, and she fell to her knees in the dirt. Dazed, she caught sight of a small figure and a flash of red, before she took to her heels and ran, darting around a corner. She leaned back against the wall, sliding slowly to the ground and hugging her knees to her chest as she fought the urge to cry. She could still hear him shouting abuse at whoever had come to her rescue. Whoever it had been, her father was going to kill him. She just knew it. It seemed to go on for hours... though in reality it was probably only a few minutes. It ended in the sharp crack of flesh on flesh and a pained shout, followed by the slamming of a door.

Lira stayed right where she was. She would have to find somewhere else to spend the night... it was far too dangerous to try and go home right now.

"Hey. You okay?" a voice suddenly said, causing her to look up, frightened. She relaxed only a little when she realized that he didn't look any older than she was. Bright blue eyes peered at her with obvious concern from beneath of mop of red hair. She'd seen him around... She didn't know his name, but she recognized that hair. He was one of the few teenage slum rats around the neighborhood who _didn't_ make a habit of harassing her when she was... working.

When she finally nodded, the boy grinned widely at her, in spite of the blood dripping from his nose and the dark bruising that was already starting to appear around one eye. "That guy's kind of an asshole, huh?"

"W-why did you do that? He coulda killed you..." she asked, trembling slightly. No one in Sector Two risked their life like that without expecting something in return. The redhead shrugged.

"Don't like seeing girls gettin' beat up." He winced slightly as he pinched his nose, trying to stem the bleeding. "S'pecially when they're gettin' beat up by some drunk-ass fuckwit three times bigger than them."

"He's my dad..." Lira said softly.

"Tch... doesn't make him any less of a drunk-ass fuckwit. You gonna be alright?"

Lira nodded again.

"'Kay... well... I'll see ya then," the boy replied, turning to leave. Lira stared after him as he walked away, somewhat dumbfounded. He hadn't wanted _anything_...

"H-hey... wait..." she called after him, scrambling to her feet. He turned back and paused, letting her catch up to him. "At least tell me your name..."

"Reno."

"I'm Lira..." she said, smiling a little. She walked alongside him down the back alley, taking hold of his hand. "Um... How about you let me come home with you so I can clean you up a little bit... and maybe do a little somethin' _else_ to say thank you?"

The little redhead blinked in surprise. "Ya don't have to do that..." he replied, and she was pretty sure she could see the faint hint of a blush coloring his face in the dim evening light. Blood and bruises aside, it was kind of adorable, really.

Lira's smile widened, and she kissed him gently on the cheek. "Don't you like girls?" she teased.

"'Course I do..." he said, somewhat wide-eyed, swallowing nervously. Lira giggled softly... She'd seen _that_ look enough times to recognize it. Her sweet little red-haired savior was apparently more innocent than she'd assumed.

"Then lead the way..." Lira said, urging him forward. There was something special about this _Reno_ kid. She could already tell.

~fin~


	17. Scene 17

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 17**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene Notes:**_ _Reno once got stuck delivering a baby... It's an experience he'd really rather not relive._

 _From Chapter 20: Down to the Market_

" _Oh, thank Ifrit," Reno sighed in relief, "That's somethin' I really don't need to see more than once..."_

 _Tseng snorted in laughter, both at Reno's response, and at Elena's confused expression. "Reno is the only Turk since the founding of Shinra who holds the honor of having delivered a baby," he explained._

" _Didn't know traumatic experiences counted as an 'honor' now," came the petulant reply, as he drew his hand back from the girl, "That shit scarred me for life."_

* * *

Tseng's phone rang late Saturday night... so late, in fact, it was technically Sunday morning and he'd been in bed for hours. He forced his eyes open and rolled over, groping for the device. He noted the caller ID on the screen before answering and sighed. It figured.

"What have you done now and how much trouble are you in?" he asked, running a hand through his hair. Whatever answer he'd been expecting from his young rookie, it certainly wasn't the shrill, pained scream his PHS suddenly emitted. Tseng was instantly wide awake. "Reno?!"

The Turks second-in-command dragged himself to the edge of the bed, nearly tripping over the covers he'd knocked to the floor in his surprise.

"I... uh... Tseng? I got a problem... A really _big_ problem..." the younger man's voice said, trembling slightly. He sounded terrified. The screaming in the background had stopped for the moment, but had been replaced by a loud, keening moan. It sounded like a woman's voice.

"Where are you?"

"Train to Sector 3... I was headin' home for the night."

Tseng spared a few seconds to zero in on the bedside clock. "Reno... it's nearly three in the morning..."

"Fuck, _fine_... I was headin' home for the morning, then! Point is power's out, train's stopped, and I'm stuck in this fuckin' tunnel with –" The teenager was cut off by another scream. Whatever was happening, the woman sounded like she was in pure agony. "... Her. Oh, dear Ifrit... what the hell is that? Uhh... O-okay, wait! Seriously, wait!"

"Reno... calm down, and tell me what's going on," the Turk leader said, concerned. He was already dressing... though he had no idea where he thought he was going to go. If Reno was trapped on one of Midgar's trains, he could be just about anywhere in the city right now.

"What's goin' on? This lady's havin' a kid and I'm the only one in here with her, that's what's fuckin' goin' on!" his rookie replied, the eighteen year old's voice gradually rising a full octave. "Tseng... _help_..." His tone was pleading and desperate... he sounded utterly lost. The senior Turk could hear the woman nearly sobbing. She seemed almost as frightened as Reno did.

"Alright... just relax."

"You're fuckin' kidding, right?" Reno replied, with a slightly manic laugh, "I'm not sure you fully grasp the situation here, boss. There is a _kid_ comin' out of her. Like right _now_."

If the situation hadn't demanded an absolutely serious response, Tseng might have laughed at that statement.

"I'm perfectly aware of where babies come from... Now will you please calm down and focus?" He couldn't help feeling just a little hypocritical saying that. Tseng was fairly certain 'calm' wouldn't have been _his_ state of mind in Reno's shoes either. Turks trained for a variety of circumstances... childbirth wasn't one of them.

"Just _tell me what to do_!" he pleaded.

"There's very little you _can_ do besides try and help her through it. Can you see the baby yet?"

"Well, I can see _somethin'_ anyway... Wouldn't swear it's human..."

"Reno... please be serious..." Tseng said, shaking his head. The woman was crying out again.

"Look, I'm tryin' my best here, man... Oh, god... I think... Oh, fuck, it's comin' out... Is there s'posed to be blood? 'Cause there's kinda a lot of blood..."

"Just let her push and support the baby's head as you guide it out... Do you have anything to wrap it in?"

"Uh... yeah. Just... H-hang on, I gotta..." There was a soft clatter, and Tseng assumed Reno had been forced to set the phone down. He could still hear him faintly over the mother's cries, talking to her, though it was hard to make out what he was saying. It was several tense minutes before anything changed. Suddenly, the distinct sound of an infant's wail echoed over the line, and Tseng smiled.

"I-it's... um... here..." Reno managed, picking the PHS back up, "For the love of Ifrit, Tseng... get someone who knows what there's doin' down here before anything _else_ happens... _Please_..."

"Just sit tight... I'll get ahold of someone who can get you out of there," he replied.

* * *

It was nearly twenty minutes before medical personnel and someone from the transportation department managed to extract the trapped passengers. Tseng was waiting patiently at the Sector 3 station for their arrival. When the train finally pulled in, he watched as a young woman and a newborn were rolled away on a gurney to a waiting ambulance. It was a few moments more before a very pale... and oddly shirtless... rookie emerged as well. He spotted Tseng and all but ran for him, eyes wide.

"Are you alright?" the senior Turk asked, vaguely amused by the teenager's rather shellshocked expression.

"It's a girl," the redhead said faintly, and Tseng chuckled.

"What happened to your shirt?"

"Needed somethin' to wrap her in..." he replied, staring blankly. Tseng gently guided him towards the stairs leading up the the street.

"Come on... I think you need to go home and go to bed."

" _I_ think I need a drink."

"We'll see," he replied, smiling indulgently.

When they reached the top of the stairs, the rookie paused, fixing his mentor with a very serious look. "That shit ever happens again, _you're_ dealin' with it... Not me."

Tseng laughed softly and led the somewhat traumatized rookie toward his car.

~fin~


	18. Scene 18

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 18**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene Notes:**_ _Tseng had a hell of a time whipping Reno into shape when he was first recruited. The poor kid never seemed to know when to shut up around his superiors._

 _From Chapter 26: 'Tis the Season:_

" _Try and remember that before you start running your mouth next time, hmm?" Tseng stressed. He suddenly smirked at him, "Or we will be reverting to our old training regime."_

 _Reno froze, eyes going wide. "I-I... You... Tseng, you wouldn't dare. You haven't done that to me in... somethin' like nine years!" he stammered, "I'm not a fucking teenager anymore!"_

" _And what's more, I'll let Elena watch, just so she can see what will happen to her should she decide to mimic you in regards to Heidegger. I'm sure she'd quite enjoy seeing the faces you make. I know I always did..." Tseng added._

" _Okay... okay... Message received. I'll watch it. No need to get all threateny..." Reno replied, holding his hands up in defeat. Tseng nodded and left._

* * *

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, _ow_! Fuck, Tseng, let go already! I get it, alright?! Ya don't have to rip it off..."

The Turks second-in-command finally released his grip on Reno's ear, and the sixteen year old clapped a hand to it protectively. He'd seen other boys dragged off like that as a child... usually by an extremely angry mother... but no one had ever done it to him before. It hurt a lot more than it looked like it should have. Tseng stood, looking a little irate, arms crossed over his chest and staring the rookie down. It took the redhead a moment to realize he'd been dragged into the men's room.

" _That_ was was a decidedly _stupid_ thing to do, Reno."

"Ah, come on... It wasn't _that_ bad," he replied, rolling his eyes. Tseng glared at him.

"Not that bad? You and I seem to have a very different definition of what constitutes 'bad'," said Tseng, "This needs to stop. You can't go around saying whatever you feel like around the people who _Run. This. Company._ I don't particularly care if you dislike them personally... I don't even care if they insult you to your face. You simply _do not_ refer to Heidegger as a 'fatass pig' when he is within earshot. The fact that your head is still attached to your body right now is due only to the fact that Veld and I were able to convince him that he misheard you. One of these days, you're going to push your luck too far, and there won't be anything I can do to protect you."

"Fine... so I'll watch my fuckin' mouth, alright?" the teenager sighed, leaning back against one of the sinks and gracing Tseng with yet another roll of his eyes.

"Oh... you most certainly will."

At his superior's tone, the younger Turk suddenly lost much of the haughty, confident expression he wore. It was replaced by an unsure and vaguely frightened look. He swallowed nervously, wondering what he was in for. Tseng turned to the supply cabinet in the corner, removing a small item and tearing away the wrapper.

"If you're going to insist on behaving like a child, I'm afraid I'm just going to have to treat you like one," he said, covering the distance between them in two long strides. "Open."

"W-wha – " Reno couldn't even get a single word out before the little bar of soap was shoved unceremoniously between his teeth. He immediately gagged and pulled away. "Gah! What the fuck, man?"

"I've warned you...several times, in fact. If you're incapable of controlling yourself on your own, there are going to have to be consequences. This will be the result any time there is a repeat of this afternoon. Now... Open. And this time, don't spit it out until I give you permission to do so."

The redhead reluctantly obeyed, the taste of the soap still coating his tongue. He visibly cringed as it was reintroduced, and his tongue instinctively fled to the roof of his mouth in a desperate attempt to avoid it.

It was easily one of the worst things he'd ever tasted... and he'd eaten some pretty questionable shit to get by over the years. Tseng stood calmly, watching him suffer, and occasionally glancing at his watch. He didn't seem to be in any particular hurry to release him from his punishment. Reno's eyes watered slightly as the taste began to make its way dangerously close to his throat. He desperately needed to swallow, but knew if he did, things were going to get ten times worse than they already were.

And _still_ Tseng refused to release him.

Reno squeezed his eyes shut, a soft whimper escaping, unbidden. The taste was positively vile. At last, Tseng took pity on him.

"Alright. That's enough."

Reno spat the bar of soap out and turned to the sink, violently twisting the faucet handle and sticking his head under the stream of water to rinse his mouth out. He spent nearly a full minute alternately gulping down fresh water and gagging on the lingering taste.

"Ah, _god_... I can still fuckin' taste it..." he lamented, finally raising his head again. He braced himself with his hands on either side of the sink, panting softly. Tseng smirked and offered him a paper towel, which the redhead angrily snatched, drying his face. "You're a real dick sometimes, ya know that?"

"Perhaps... But I suspect you'll think twice about what you say next time. And if you don't... we'll repeat this little exercise until thinking twice becomes second nature. Is that understood?"

"Yeah," he replied. Tseng raised a challenging eyebrow and Reno very quickly adopted a more conciliatory tone. "Yes, sir. I understand."

Tseng's expression softened a bit, as did his voice. "And do you also understand that, if I didn't care very much what happens to you, I wouldn't bother with such tactics?"

The redhead looked awkwardly down at the floor. "Yeah..."

"Good. Then let's get back to work, shall we?"

~fin~


	19. Scene 19

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 19**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene Notes:**_ _By request... This is why Reno is no longer allowed in Rude's kitchen. This takes place after Reno's been a Turk for a few years, but well before he'd been made second in command... probably when he was around 19 or so._

 _From Chapter 30: Wedding Bells:_

 _Reno snickered. "Yeah, I'm kidding. He hasn't gone completely off the deep end. He really is still back there, though. I can only assume he's watchin' their every move... Don't dare check it out for myself. I'm not allowed to set foot in his kitchen at home anymore... and I'm pretty sure he'd throw me out here, too, if I tried it."_

 _Elena giggled and finally took a bite. It was pure heaven... definitely Rude's handiwork. "Why exactly are you banned from Rude's kitchen?"_

" _Uh... long story. Fire was involved. So..." the redhead continued, quickly changing subjects, "While I gotcha here, what time do you want me to pick ya up tomorrow?"_

* * *

He really wasn't sure what had made him think this was a good idea.

No, scratch that. He'd _never_ thought that this was a good idea... When Reno had turned up, asking Rude to let him try cooking for him again, his first response had been a resounding and emphatic no. Unfortunately, he'd been suckered into it by the pleading look Reno had given him when he'd refused. The younger man was impossible to deny sometimes, and Rude was damn near certain he was going to regret giving in on this one. But it was too late now.

He sighed as he sat, somewhat nervously, on his couch, half-watching a rerun of last week's Shadow & Sword. He'd intentionally set the volume low so that he could at least _hear_ what was going on elsewhere in his apartment... The redhead had barred him from his own kitchen until he finished.

"Yo, Rude... got any more butter?" a voice called out from the other room.

An eyebrow rose slowly behind dark lenses, as he mentally cataloged the current contents of his refrigerator, wondering what the hell he meant by 'more'. Three pounds wasn't enough?

"... Just what's in the fridge," he responded, fighting the urge to go and check on his friend's progress. Had he not explicitly promised not to ruin the surprise, he would have done just that.

"Tch... 'kay. Nevermind, then."

He shook his head and tried to pay attention to the show. Whatever he was making, it couldn't _possibly_ be as bad as last time. But then... he didn't think anything could be as bad as the last time.

He still wasn't entirely certain what Reno had done to him the first – and until today, the _only_ – time he'd cooked for him, but Rude had never been more sick in his life. By the time it was finally over... and it wasn't _completely_ over for nearly three days, though thankfully the vomiting had subsided comparatively quickly... he'd lost six pounds. His partner, meanwhile, had been perfectly fine, in spite of having ingested at least twice the amount Rude had.

"Hey, um... what exactly are capers?" Reno asked, poking his head around the wall. Rude cringed. He'd gotten into his specialty ingredients. He really should've hidden those. Shiva only knew what sort of culinary havoc the man could wreak if he decided to start mixing things he didn't even recognize into whatever the hell it was he was making.

"... They're pickled flower buds... taste a little like green olives."

His friend stared at him somewhat incredulously for a moment. "Seriously? … Weird. So anyway... flour. Where should I look?"

"Pantry... left side, third shelf from the bottom."

"Thanks!" Reno said, grinning, and vanished again.

Flour was pretty safe. Surely he couldn't do too much harm with flour and butter. Even if, for some Ifrit-forsaken reason, he decided capers would make a good addition to the dish, it wasn't likely to poison him again. Maybe it was something simple. He _prayed_ it was something simple.

He decided then and there that if it looked _too_ questionable, he just wasn't going to eat it... no matter how much Reno begged him to try it. Rude heard his blender suddenly start churning away at something, accompanied by a string of profanity, and the immediate cessation of the appliance.

"... Everything alright?"

"Uh... yeah. Everything's fine. Not a problem. But, um... just outta curiosity, do ya think that somethin' kinda... _purplish_... would stain the ceiling?"

Rude groaned and got to his feet, heading for the kitchen. The redhead, however, cut him off before he could move more than a few steps in his direction, peering around the corner again. His face was spattered with something that was _indeed_ 'kinda purplish'.

"No! It's fine... I got this. You'll never even know it happened. Just stay out there."

Against his better judgment, Rude returned to his seat, and wondered if he was going to be repainting his kitchen in the near future. Several more minutes went by with no further sounds of mysterious disasters... and he slowly began to relax. A minor blender tsunami was hardly the worst thing that could happen. And he knew Reno _would_ clean up the mess. He could live with it. It wasn't that bad.

He was still telling himself that when he heard the distinct _whoosh_ of something going up in flames. For a moment, he didn't move, convinced that he surely must be imagining things.

"Ah, fuck!" he heard Reno exclaim from the kitchen. And then the smoke detector went off. "Uh... Rude?! Fire extinguisher?!"

Rude shot into the kitchen, all but diving for the cabinet beneath the sink. But it was too late... Reno was already upending a bowl of water over the flaming pan on the stove. The bald Turk dropped the extinguisher and yanked him back. Scarcely a split second later, the flames more than tripled in size as the water made contact with the burning oil in the pan. He fell to the floor, still clutching the redhead to his chest. He unceremoniously dropped him moments later and went after the extinguisher again, dousing the grease fire as well as the smaller fires that had spread to other parts of his kitchen. When it was out, he turned back to his friend.

Reno hadn't dared move, seemingly waiting with a quiet sort of dread for whatever Rude was going to do to him. The Turk let the fire extinguisher fall from his hand. It hit the floor with a clatter, deafening in the silence that lingered between the two men. The redhead swallowed sharply, as Rude hauled him to his feet by the collar of his shirt and looked him dead in the eye.

"You're not allowed in my kitchen anymore."

~fin~


	20. Scene 20

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 20**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene Notes:**_ _Tseng found Reno in the slums when he was just 16. This is how they met._

 _From Chapter 25: The Games We Play:_

 _She paused a moment, looking at him curiously. "How is it you always seem to know when something's bothering me?"_

" _I'm good at readin' people. Always have been." He sat up, sitting cross-legged on the bed. "That's actually how I caught Tseng's attention in the first place. Not the only reason he recruited me, but it's definitely what got me a second glance."_

* * *

It was fortunate for him that black tended to hide blood stains. Otherwise, he would have drawn considerably more attention than he already had when he'd staggered in. With any luck he'd be dismissed as just another drunk who'd been run out of one bar and crawled into the next, and likewise ignored. It was what he was counting on, in fact. He sat down at the far end of the bar, as deep in the shadows as he could get.

It wasn't all his blood, of course. But enough of it _was_ that he'd finally had to concede defeat and make a run for it. He just hoped he'd lost them. If he hadn't... well... he was injured, outnumbered five to one, and out of ammunition. The odds weren't exactly in his favor.

He was ashamed to admit that he'd somehow missed all the signs of the impending ambush. If he managed to make it back up to the Plate, Veld wasn't going to be amused when he told him how foolish he'd been. Tseng held back a pained yelp as he shifted his arm. At least one of the two bullets that had hit him was still lodged somewhere in his shoulder. The other, he was pretty sure, had gone straight through.

Before he could do much more than wonder how long this was going to have him stuck on desk duty, a shotglass was set in front of him with a soft thump. He looked up in surprise... at both the drink and the bartender.

The boy couldn't possibly have been out of his teenage years yet, with fiery red hair that stuck up wildly, and a lazy grin that seemed to belie a singular alertness.

"Ya look like ya need it," he said, with a casual shrug, before turning away to tend to other customers.

Technically he was on duty, and regulations very strictly forbid drinking while on duty, save when it was a matter of maintaining one's cover. At the moment, however, he didn't much care _what_ the regulations said. If Veld had a problem with it, he could chew him out at headquarters... assuming he made it back.

Tseng downed the shot, grimacing as the harsh liquor burned the back of his throat, and coughed slightly. He hadn't _quite_ been ready for whatever the hell that was... It was strong. But it certainly took the edge off of the rapidly spreading lethargy he was feeling as a result of the blood loss. Head a little clearer now, he pulled his PHS from an inner pocket in his jacket. The screen was cracked... badly. He wasn't certain when that had happened. Hopefully _after_ his emergency message had reached headquarters.

"Those guys lookin' for you?" the teenage bartender suddenly asked, voice so low Tseng barely caught it over the din of the bar. The Turk shifted his gaze as innocuously as he could towards the door and swore under his breath in Wutaiian. He'd really thought he'd shook them. "Heh... Yeah. Thought they might be," the kid added upon seeing his reaction, and he found himself just a little impressed by the boy's perceptiveness.

"Is there a back door to this place?" Tseng asked. If he just could slip out before they had a chance to spot him...

"Tch... 'Course. Ya won't make it, though," he replied, nodding toward the doorway leading into the backroom. It was on the far side of the bar. He'd never get there without being seen. "Ah, hell... I must be outta my fuckin' mind..."

The redhead swung open the gate at the end of the bar, and subtly waved him back. A moment later, Tseng had disappeared behind it.

He found himself crouched beneath the counter. It was awkward and decidedly undignified and his injured arm protested sharply... but it was better than ending up in a fight he had little to no chance of winning. The sound of angry footsteps met his ears as the group stormed up to the bar.

"Hey! You!" Tseng heard one of his pursuers growl at the young bartender. "We're lookin' for someone. Wutaiian bastard... long hair... dark suit. Probably bleedin' all over the place. Seen him?"

"Nope."

The kid could lie... that was for damn sure. Even Tseng had almost believed it. A moment later, though, he cringed at the startled cry from the boy as one of the men reached across the bar and seized him by the front of his shirt.

"You lyin' ta me, slum rat?"

The redhead squirmed as he was lifted a few inches off the ground. "Fuck, man! I told ya... I haven't seen anyone like that! Check the fuckin' back room if ya want..." The man shoved the kid backwards into the shelves behind the bar. Two of them collapsed, showering the boy in glass and liquor.

"Hey... Hands off the staff!" a new voice shouted from across the bar, and Tseng had no trouble identifying the distinct sound of someone racking the slide of a shotgun. The boy caught the hidden Turk's eye and smirked before scrambling to his feet again. "You alright there, Reno?"

"Yeah, boss... I'm good," he answered, voice calm and unworried. Tseng had to hand it to him... the teen certainly didn't frighten easily.

"You assholes get the fuck outta my bar," the shotgun's owner said angrily, "'Fore I take the cost of that booze outta your sorry hides..."

There was some murmuring amongst the small group of thugs, but when it became clear that the bar's proprietor wasn't backing down... and that quite a few of his regulars were backing him _up_... they finally bid a hasty retreat.

"Pain in the ass street scum..." the owner muttered, "Clean up that mess, then ya can take off for the night."

Tseng waited in silence for the man to retreat back to wherever he'd come from before finally coming out of hiding and sitting back down at the bar.

"It seems I'm in your debt..." he said, watching the teen sweep shards of broken glass into a pile.

"That actually worth anything?" he asked with a joking grin. The Turk managed a quiet chuckle in spite of his shoulder's renewed pain.

"Perhaps..." he replied. "You could have saved yourself a great deal of trouble and simply told them where I was. Why help me?"

The redhead shrugged. "Just had a feelin' I'd be better off helpin' you than them..."

Tseng nodded slightly, more to himself than to the kid. For some reason, _he_ had a feeling this wouldn't the the last he saw of Reno...

~fin~


	21. Scene 21

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 21**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene Notes:**_ _Another one by request. Growing up in the slums, Reno never experienced much in terms of weather... so moving up to the Plate was a little bit of a shock for him, especially in the winter. This takes place during the brief period of time Reno was staying with Tseng after being thrown out of his apartment for setting off explosives._

 _From Chapter 26: 'Tis the Season:_

" _You'd think he'd never seen snow before..." Elena giggled._

" _He hadn't until he became a Turk, actually. It doesn't snow in the slums... save perhaps in parts of Sector 6 where the Plate has yet to be completed. He's... fond of it. At least until he grows tired of being cold and wet. Myself, on the other hand..." He suppressed a shudder and turned up the temperature via the thermostat on the wall. "I don't think I'll ever become entirely acclimated to Midgar's idea of winter. Wutai's climate is far milder."_

* * *

"Reno."

"Mmmph... Go'way..."

"Reno."

"It's fuckin' Saturday. Leave me alone..." the lump under the blankets replied, petulantly. Tseng shook his head and smirked.

"Normally, I would do just that, as I really have no say in how you spend your weekends. However..." He gripped the blanket and yanked, obliterating the warm little nest Reno had created for himself and exposing the shirtless teen to the cooler air of his guest room. The redhead yelped, wrapping his arms around himself as though he'd suddenly been tossed into a cold shower. The rookie glared up at him. "If you don't get up, you're going to miss it."

"Whatever the hell I'm gonna miss, it can't possibly be better than bein' warm. Give that back!"

"If you slept in something a bit more appropriate to the season, you wouldn't have to cocoon yourself like that..." he pointed out, ignoring the demand. "I'm not certain you've noticed, but it's winter." Though, the Turks second-in-command noted, the rookie _had_ finally given in and worn a pair of sweat pants to bed last night, at least. Apparently even Reno's preference for sleeping nude had its limits.

"I noticed," the teen said, dryly. "And now I'm goin' back into hibernation."

"There's breakfast."

Tseng saw him hesitate. If there was anything that might motivate the redhead into getting up early on a weekend... if one could consider eight forty-five in the morning particularly early... it was food.

"Tch... Sleep in or eat _your_ cooking..." he mused out loud. He glanced up at his mentor with a smug expression. "Ya know... that's actually kind of a tough decision. I mean... on one hand, I'm starvin' and food is food. On the other... what you make just barely qualifies. Goin' back to sleep might still be better."

"I didn't cook. I bought you donuts when I went out for groceries this morning."

"Fuck... Really? There's donuts?" Tseng had him now. The rookie groaned and sat up in bed, resigned to his fate. "Hang on... You _hate_ sugar. What's the occasion?" he asked, eying the senior Turk suspiciously.

"I don't hate sugar... I simply dislike so much of it so early in the day. And if you'd get up, you would _see_ what the occasion is."

"Fine..." he muttered, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and dragging himself to his feet. "There. I'm up... happy now?"

"Ecstatic," Tseng replied with a soft chuckle.

"And you better not've been fuckin' with me about there bein' donuts."

"I assure you, I would never," the Wutaiian Turk lightly teased. Reno grabbed a t-shirt from the floor, pulling it over his head as he followed him into the living room and through to the kitchen, and grinned as he spotted the promised pastries on the counter. As he was passing the large picture window, though, movement outside caught his attention from the corner of his eye, pulling his gaze around. He stopped short, staring.

"... What the fuck?"

" _That_ is why I woke you."

Reno walked toward the window, eyes wide as he watched the the huge snowflakes falling gently to the ground. A few inches had already piled up outside, and it didn't seem to be in any hurry to stop.

"Is that _snow_?" the teenager breathed, looking around to Tseng for confirmation. "I've never actually seen it before..."

He smiled. "I _thought_ it might interest you..."

Reno grinned and headed for the door.

"Wait a minute... Where are you going?" Tseng called after him, concerned... In retrospect, the teen's intentions probably should have been fairly obvious.

"Outside!" the redhead replied, excitedly, breakfast all but forgotten. He threw the door wide and rushed out, apparently oblivious to the feeling of the icy pavement on his bare feet.

"For Leviathan's sake... at least get _dressed_ appropriately first!" he shouted, though by then, his rookie had already left the apartment and let himself fall backwards into the nearest drift of snow. Tseng rolled his eyes slightly at the sound of the Reno's laughter and went to find him a coat before he froze.

~fin~


	22. Scene 22

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 22**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene Notes:**_ _Elena found out she was a little more squeamish than she'd thought when she and Reno visited Costa del Sol. When Tseng sent her off to bring back the body, she wasn't looking forward to Rude catching her in a similar state._

 _From Chapter 14: Trouble in Paradise:_

" _As they left the clinic, Elena felt an impending sense of dread... the last time she'd had to deal with Wymer's body hadn't exactly been one of her finer moments. It was one thing to lose it in front of Reno... thinking about Rude seeing her like that left her feeling decidedly uncertain about this trip."_

* * *

They'd been in the air only a few minutes. For some reason, it continued to surprise Elena just how much faster it was to travel by helicopter... The boat ride she'd taken yesterday felt like an eternity by comparison. She swallowed nervously. Right now, an eternity seemed preferable. She wished she hadn't eaten breakfast.

If she'd known she would be making this trip, she _wouldn't_ have.

Wymer's body was still buried in its shallow grave on Playa Roja Island... but it wouldn't be for long. The rookie glanced over her shoulder into the back section of the helicopter. A shovel and a neatly folded heavy plastic bag lay unassumingly on the floor. She groaned inaudibly. She really didn't want to do this again so soon.

"Where's the best place to land?" Rude asked, voice crackling slightly over her headset, and she jumped, startled from her thoughts.

"O-oh... um... The north beach, I guess. There's a cove. I think that's probably as close as we can get in the helicopter, and there should be a path leading straight up to the memorial garden," she replied, thinking back to the little map on the back of the island brochure she'd spent entirely too much time yesterday studying. Rude nodded and altered course slightly, heading for the the little inlet on the northern shore of the island.

Her eyes traveled a little to the west, and she spotted the narrow strip of beach she and Reno had been dropped off at the day before. Not a single boat was in sight... apparently it was a slow day for the tour guides. Though, she mused, that was probably a good thing for the two of them. Running into other visitors to the island might be a little awkward. Within moments, they were on the ground.

They stepped out on the pebble-strewn beach, and Elena gazed up the steep trail that lead into the island's interior. It seemed far more foreboding than it should have, and the rookie had to repeatedly tell herself that it was only her imagination. She'd done this once... she could do it again. She would _not_ lose focus and she would _not_ let Rude see her as weak as she'd been yesterday.

"Lead the way," the other Turk intoned, and she suddenly realized that she been standing there for several seconds, just staring at the path. Elena took a breath and started forward, heading up the trail. She paused briefly at the crossroads to note the little signpost that pointed towards the Lovers' Graves memorial garden, and turned down the appropriate path, Rude close on her heals with the shovel resting on one shoulder. It wasn't long before she caught sight of the marble statue at the center of the garden.

It was odd. The first time she'd seen it, the whole place had felt so romantic and restful... the little piles of stones left by visitors dotting the ground a testament to the fact that other people had to have felt the same way she had. It had made her smile then.

Now though... the Lovers' statue seemed more a sentinel guarding a dark secret than an homage to a love that carried on even after death.

"He's over there," the rookie said, pointing towards the far corner, at the large patch of disturbed earth that Reno had done his best to camouflage when they'd filled the grave back in. Rude grunted softly in acknowledgment, and tossed her the body bag before making his way over with the shovel. She shook her head slightly. It didn't seem to phase _him_ in the least. Come to think of it, Reno had unearthed the body without a second thought as well... though he, at least, had confessed that he hadn't always been so numb to it – after she'd come dangerously close to puking her guts out. Elena wondered if Rude had ever shared a similar squeamishness.

If he had, she didn't think he was going to be telling her about it. Rude was friendly enough, and since they'd discovered their shared interest in a certain TV show he's started to open up to her a bit more... but he wasn't nearly as forthcoming as his partner was when it came to casual chatting. Getting him to talk about anything too personal seemed to be a task she wasn't quite experienced enough to take on. She shook her head as she realized he'd already set himself to the task at hand, and was moving large shovelfuls of loose soil aside.

"Careful..." Elena cautioned, "H-he's not very deep..." She had _no_ desire to see what happened when a shovel made contact with a five-day-old corpse.

"Thanks for the warning," Rude responded, and Elena got the distinct impression that _he_ didn't much care to see that, either. The bald Turk made short work of the exhumation, and Elena cringed, looking down into the grave.

It was almost worse than the first time. The sight of the milky white, lifeless eyes, staring up at her made her skin crawl. For the briefest of moments, Wymer's face seemed to morph into one she was much better acquainted with, and Elena felt the familiar sensation of bile rising in her throat as she realized it was Reno's. She blinked and it was gone. The rookie swallowed sharply, and looked away with a shudder. _That_ was an image that was going to haunt her for awhile... particularly given how close it had come to being a reality.

"Let's get him out of there," her fellow Turk said, sighing. Elena's eyes widened slightly. For some reason, it had never occurred to her that she'd have to help with _that_... Rude was already unfolding the bag and laying it out beside the grave. That done, he moved towards Wymer's head. "Lift gently. We don't want a bigger mess to deal with. Trust me."

Elena's stomach turned as the implications of that statement hit her, but she shook it off. She could do this. She was a Turk. The rookie gritted her teeth and grabbed the dead man's ankles, lifting in sync with her fellow Turk. The body was surprisingly stiff... and it gave a whole new meaning to the phrase 'dead weight'. Wymer was by no means a small man. He been easily as tall as Rude, and likewise as broad.

It was right about then that the smell hit her.

How she hadn't noticed it before, she wasn't sure. Maybe it had been the fact that the body had still been mostly buried the last time she was this close to it, or maybe it had simply been that she hadn't been leaning directly over the unfortunate junior executive before. Either way, it caught her entirely off-guard... though, even if she'd expected it, she wasn't sure she could have stopped the inevitable.

Elena groaned softly, one hand rising to her mouth as she dropped Wymer's feet. She didn't stop to explain... she simply made a mad dash for the brushes a short distance away and spent the next minute and a half retching.

So much for not showing weakness.

When it finally stopped, she stayed there, on her knees, panting softly in the tropical heat. Her face was flushed, both from the exertion of having her stomach reject everything she'd eaten that morning, and from embarrassment. A hand suddenly came to rest on her shoulder and she flinched, not wanting to face her fellow Turk. Rude wordlessly handed her a handkerchief and then went back to deal with Wymer, leaving her to compose herself.

The rookie wiped her mouth and wished she had something to get the sour taste out of it. That would have to wait until they returned to the mainland, however. Finally, she couldn't delay any further. Elena stood, somewhat shakily, and turned back towards Rude.

"... Could... you not mention that to anyone?" she asked, a little timidly. Rude shrugged and zipped the bag closed around Wymer's body.

"If you want. Happens to everyone, though," he replied, with a faint smirk.

~fin~


	23. Scene 23

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 23**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene Notes:**_ _Reno's been arrested a few times. Well... nine times. That he'll admit to. Once, it was for joyriding in Tseng's car. This happened very early in Reno's career as a Turk._

 _From Chapter 38: Restoration:_

" _I... uh... borrowed it once, ya know."_

" _Why do I get the feeling you're using the term 'borrowed' very loosely?"_

" _Hey, borrowin' without askin' is still borrowin'. Although... borrowin' Tseng's car without askin' was definitely not one of my better ideas. S'pecially since I technically didn't have a license yet. I'm pretty sure I'm only still alive because I was in police custody when he found out..."_

* * *

Tseng was awake even before his phone rang. He wasn't sure why, but somehow he just knew it was going to. Sure enough, a scant thirty seconds later, it did just that. The Turks second-in-command sighed and rolled over, wondering what Reno had done _now_. It was Friday night... so alcohol was almost certainly involved. If he was lucky, Rude would have tagged along and kept him out of the worst sorts of trouble.

Though on the other hand... if Rude had tagged along and he was _still_ getting a call after eleven at night on a Friday, odds were good that he was going be to rushing off to rescue two rookie Turks instead of just one. He didn't even bother glancing at the display.

"At what point in my life did I do something so horrendous that I deserve this?"

"Um... I'm sorry, sir. Maybe I have the wrong number. This is Detective Arnet with the Midgar Police Department. I'm trying to reach Tseng Itsudake?"

Tseng mentally kicked himself. He'd been expecting Reno to call personally... or perhaps more likely, Rude.

"You have. I apologize... I assumed you would be someone else. What is this regarding?"

"Well... This evening we pulled over a car for excessive speed in Sector 5. The driver was a minor without a valid license. When we ran the registration, it came back as belonging to you."

Tseng's hand clenched in a death grip around his PHS and his jaw tightened in barely restrained fury. If he found out that Reno had stolen his car... he was going to murder him. Painfully.

"I see," he responded in a clipped tone, "And where is my car now?"

"Sector 5 impound." His eye twitched. "The driver has refused to cooperate, so we haven't yet located a parent or guardian yet. We're waiting on fingerprints now. Once he's been identified, you'll be able to press charges if you wish."

"Let me guess... Sixteen years old, red hair, very thin, with two crescent-shaped facial tattoos around his eyes."

"I... Yes, sir," the detective answered, sounding surprised.

"Which station is he at?" the Wutaiian Turk ground out.

"Sector 5, Substation C."

"I'll be there in thirty minutes. Tell him I'm coming. _That_ should make him far more cooperative."

* * *

It was closer to forty-five minutes before Tseng stormed angrily into the police station. The trains had been running slow. He had little trouble spotting the redhead through the window of an interrogation room, and started towards him. His progress was halted by older police detective.

"Mr. Itsudake?"

"Yes."

"Perhaps you could clear some things up for me. He seemed a bit... er... terrified... when we told him you were on your way here. How exactly do you know him?"

By then the redhead had spotted _him_ as well, and was watching him through the tempered glass window, looking decidedly pale. Tseng scowled at him and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Unfortunately, I'm responsible for him."

"You're his guardian?" the detective asked, leafing through his notes. Apparently his rookie hadn't been especially forthcoming, even _after_ being informed of Tseng's imminent arrival. They'd be having a word or two about _that_ later...

"Technically, he's a ward of Shinra Company," Tseng replied, "But he is under the direct supervision of the Investigation Sector of the General Affairs Department... more specifically, under _my_ supervision. I have legal authority over him until he's of age. Assuming he lives to see tomorrow, that is..."

The other man swallowed nervously. "The Turks?"

"Yes."

The detective cast a glance over his shoulder at the redhead, offering him a look of sheer pity, before turning back to Tseng.

"I take it you won't be pressing charges, then."

"No... I'll deal with him personally. What _exactly_ has he done?"

The man cleared his throat and flipped open his notebook. "He was pulled over for speeding about an hour and a half ago. He failed to present a valid license, and, obviously, the car wasn't registered to him. He was with a young lady... also a minor... who was extremely inebriated, and there was an open container of alcohol on the floor of the car. _She_ has since been remanded to the custody of her parents."

Tseng's eyes narrowed. "Is _he_ drunk as well?" If he was, the senior Turk was going to strangle him. Drinking on his time off was one thing... though Tseng didn't, strictly speaking, approve. Drinking and then going on a joyride was quite another.

"No, he's not. He claims he hasn't had anything to drink at all, actually... though being a minor, we're limited in what tests we can perform without a parent or guardian's permission."

"Anything else?"

"He _did_ try to flee after he was pulled over. The arresting officer said he got about six blocks before he apparently thought better of it and surrendered peacefully."

The Wutaiian Turk ground his teeth. Of all the idiotic things to do...

"I assume there's no issue with releasing him to me... Along with my car?"

"No... No issue. Uh... Right this way." He led him towards the interrogation room and unlocked the door. Tseng stepped inside pausing directly in front of his wayward rookie.

Reno scrambled to his feet, fearfully coming to attention. "I can explain..."

"I strongly suggest holding your explanations until I'm in a slightly less homicidal mood," he intoned, dangerously. He pointed to the door. "Now move."

"Uh... I kinda think I'd rather stay in jail tonight..." the redhead replied, eying his irate commander with trepidation.

" _Move_ ," he repeated, in a tone that was not to be argued with.

"... Yes, sir..." the rookie said, meekly, before cautiously slipping past him and out of the interrogation room, never taking his eyes off of Tseng.

Neither of them said a word to one another as Tseng reclaimed his stolen property and strapped Reno into the passenger's seat. The silence lingered over them until they were nearly halfway to Reno's apartment. Finally, the redhead seemed to work up the courage to break it.

"I'm sorry."

"You're certainly _going_ to be," the senior Turk responded, eyes locked on the road in front of him. Out of the corner of his vision, he saw Reno flinch. "I hesitate to even ask for an explanation. I'm far too angry with you as it is..."

The redhead sank down in the seat. "I... I was tryin' to impress some girls."

"Among which, I assume, was the one the police found you with?"

"No... I met her later. At a party," he admitted.

"And I supposed that's where the alcohol came from... Were _you_ drinking as well?"

Reno vehemently shook his head in denial. "I wasn't... I swear. I'm not that stupid."

" _That's_ up for debate..." Tseng glanced over at the rookie, who by then seemed to be trying to make himself as small as possible in the seat. He didn't _seem_ to be lying.

"Where were you taking the girl?"

"It's not what you think..."

"What I think is irrelevant. Answer the question."

"I was takin' her home," the redhead said quickly, "Look, I know what it probably looks like, but I wasn't gonna try anything with her. Some asshat slipped her somethin'. I... just didn't want anything to happen to her."

Tseng's harsh glare softened slightly at that. It was true that he and Reno were still getting to know one another... but he'd seen enough of the younger man to know he was likely being sincere. The redhead _did_ have something of a protective streak when it came to women. Though that one good deed didn't change the fact that he'd stolen a car. _His_ car.

"S-so... on a scale of mandatory guard duty 'til I'm twenty to pack your shit, I'm drop-kickin' you back to the slums... How much trouble am I in?" Reno asked in a small voice.

"I haven't decided yet," Tseng said, evenly. "And I don't intend to until I'm less likely to do something I'll eventually regret. But you can most certainly forget about accompanying me to Costa del Sol with the president's family next week. Rude will be taking your place on the security team."

He knew his rookie had been looking forward to that assignment. The teenager had had so few opportunities to ever leave the city... he was always excited when such missions fell to him. And Costa del Sol would likely be akin to a working vacation.

"Yes, sir..." the redhead replied, his voice sullen and resigned. Tseng turned into the parking lot of Reno's apartment building and pulled into an empty space.

"We'll discuss the specifics of your punishment on Monday. I suggest you enjoy your weekend, Reno... because it's the last one you're going to have free for awhile."

~fin~


	24. Scene 24

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 24**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene Notes:**_ _R_ _eno's first visit to Dr. Ward._

 _From Chapter 18: A Night on the Glacier:_

" _... Ward's been takin' care of me for a long time, 'Lena," he chuckled, "Since I was first recruited, so goin' on ten years now. That's a lot of not wantin' to kill me. And... the candy's a nice bonus, too. She... uh... actually keeps it around just for me, I think."_

" _Why?" she asked, curiosity piqued. Reno shifted a little awkwardly._

" _'Cause I was a sixteen year old kid the first time Tseng dragged me in to see her," he finally said, "First medical workup, they check that you're up to date on vaccinations 'n shit. Tseng pulled me straight outta the slums... so I wasn't. Which meant way more needles than I ever wanted to see intended for me." He shuddered at the memory._

* * *

"Why the fuck do I have to go to the doctor? I'm not sick..."

The rather petulant teenager was presently sulking in the passenger's seat of Tseng's car, a scowl firmly embedded on his face. The Turks second-in-command sighed. He'd known taking on a rookie of his own wasn't going to be a simple task, but the young redhead didn't seem especially eager to make things any easier for him. Veld had even tried to talk him out of selecting the young man... but Tseng had been adamant.

"Because it's a requirement. And because... when exactly was the last time you even _saw_ a doctor?"

Reno shrugged. "Got stabbed awhile back and needed a shit-ton of stitches. Guess technically he wasn't really a _doctor_ though... Used to be a medic or some shit in the army. He's just who everyone in my neighborhood goes to when they get hurt 'n shit."

Tseng looked at the boy sidelong as he pulled into his parking space. "And before that?"

"Hell if I know. I kinda remember someone checkin' me over when I was a kid... Mighta been a doctor. Is this gonna take long? When do we get to the cool shit?"

"I realize you're excited..." Tseng replied, smirking slightly, "but there are a number of formalities we need to go through before we start any actual training. A medical evaluation is only the first, so I suggest you calm down." He stepped out of the car and waited for Reno to follow suit before guiding him towards the parking deck's elevator.

"The medical suite is on the ninth floor," he explained, pressing the button. "It's well-equipped, but hardly to the extent of a proper hospital. It's more than sufficient for treating minor injuries, however. I suspect you'll be getting to know the staff fairly well once we _do_ start training."

The redhead scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Never needed someone to clean me up after a fight before. Why would I now?"

"Trust me. It makes things far simpler," Tseng responded. "You're free to see whichever member of the medical staff you like. There were four, last I checked, though I personally prefer Dr. Ward. She's in charge of the department and has admitting privileges for Midgar General... and she is who will be examining you today."

"Is she hot at least?" the redhead asked, hopefully. Tseng chuckled softly.

"I suppose that depends on how you feel about sixty-two year old women..."

Reno groaned and sagged against the wall of the elevator until it arrived on the ninth floor. "Figures..."

"Come on. I don't want you to be late," Tseng urged as the doors opened.

"What's the fuckin' rush? The little old lady goin' somewhere?" he muttered, dragging his feet as he obeyed.

"Hmmm... Turk or not, one does _not_ keep Justinia Ward waiting. I would also recommend against referring to her as a 'little old lady' unless you happen to have a fetish for rectal thermometers."

"... That's a joke, right?"

"You're welcome to try it and find out..." the Wutaiian replied, a faint grin on his face. Tseng led him down the hallway to the wide door at the end, and pushed it open, ushering the rookie inside.

"Ah, there yeh are," a lilting voice called out from the back, and seconds later its owner appeared from a behind a screen. "I've been expecting yeh. Tsk... really, Tseng. _This_ is your new recruit? Yeh can't be serious... He's just baby."

Reno narrowed his eyes, glaring. "Who the fuck are you callin' a baby?" He stared at her, taking in the woman's short, graying hair and the long white lab coat.

"Reno..." Tseng cautioned.

"Yeh'll watch that mouth of yers if yeh know what's good for yeh," Ward said, firmly. Reno started to reply, but a sharp look from the older woman quickly silenced him. She turned back to Tseng. "Alright... go on, then. I'll give yeh a call when I'm done with him."

The Wutaiian Turk nodded and made for the door.

"H-hey... You're not just leavin' me with this old bat, are ya, Tseng?" the rookie asked, sounding slightly nervous.

"And just who are _yeh_ calling an old bat?" Ward shot back, clearly more amused than angry.

"I have other matters to attend to, not the least of which is seeing to your security clearance... and besides which, I'll only be in Dr. Ward's way if I stay. You'll be fine. She doesn't bite..." Tseng said, before adding with a teasing smile, "... as far as I'm aware, at any rate."

"Oh, go on, yeh irritating thing! Back ta work with yeh," Ward replied, shooing the other Turk out of her domain. She shook her head and turned back to her patient. "Well, now... come with me, then, and I'll have a look at yeh."

Reno sighed and followed as she walked towards a screened off area and gestured to a small exam table. He hesitantly took a seat.

"We'll start off with a quick history," she said, picking up a clipboard. "Full name?"

"Reno James Donovan," the rookie replied, in a bored voice.

"Age?"

"Sixteen."

"Any allergies?"

The redhead shrugged. "Not that I know of."

"Do yeh smoke?"

"Yep."

"Drink?"

"That a trick question?" he asked, smirking. Ward silently stared him down, until Reno finally rolled his eyes and sighed. "Fine... yeah, I fuckin' drink."

"Thought I told yeh ta watch yer language," the doctor replied, "Any drug use?"

"Tried some shit... hated it. Didn't try it again."

"Are yeh sexually active?"

Reno blinked, slightly caught off guard by the blunt question. "Uh... yeah."

"Do yeh use protection?"

"I'm not an idiot," he said, vaguely insulted. Ward looked up from her chart and chuckled.

"I don't think yeh are. But I _do_ have ta ask."

"Yes, okay?" he muttered.

"Good. Yeh'd be surprised how many I get in here that don't. Names of any previous doctors?"

"Why do ya need to know that?" the redhead asked, confused.

"To request your medical records."

Reno laughed. "Tch... good luck with that. Don't think Old Sarge even _keeps_ any kinda records."

"I see," Ward said, looking more than a little annoyed. "Yeh came from the slums, then, I take it."

"That a problem?" he asked, wary of her reaction.

"No. It would've been nice if that Shiva-forsaken mentor of yers had thought ta mention that little bit of information, though. I could've prepped the vaccinations yeh'll need ahead of time." She shook her head dismissively. "Well, no matter. It's only a minor delay. What about yer family? Are they healthy?"

"Haven't got one."

Ward glanced up again, one eyebrow rising in curiosity. "Yeh just blinked inta existence one day, is that it?" she said, dryly.

"Tch... Only family I ever had was my mom. And she's dead," the teenager responded. He looked away from the doctor. "So I don't have a family anymore."

"Ah..." Ward gave him a contrite smile. "I'm sorry, Reno. I didn't mean ta be so hostile."

The redhead shrugged with feigned indifference.

"Do yeh mind if I ask how she died?" Ward queried, a bit more gently, "Was she sick?"

"Just sick of livin' in the slums. Couldn't take any more of that shit... so she offed herself. Look, can we not talk about this?"

"Alright... I think I have all I need, anyway." The doctor set her notes aside, and picked up a neatly folded gown. "Why don't yeh get changed inta this while I go and see about those vaccinations, hmm?"

Reno did as he was asked, and waited. When Ward returned, she made quick work of the physical examination, poking and prodding with an efficiency the redhead had up until then only ever had cause to associate with Tseng. He flinched at the sudden sensation of icy cold metal against his skin as she listened to his heart and lungs. He suppressed an irritated groan when she insisted on measuring his height and weight. And, in spite of a well-earned reputation for being utterly shameless, he found himself fighting to control the blush that rose to his cheeks when the exam moved on, without much warning, to the lower half of his body.

He vaguely wondered if all Shinra employees were so calculatingly productive. If they were, he was going to have one hell of a time measuring up.

"Nearly done," Ward said at last. "Just one last thing to take care of and then I'll turn yeh back over ta Tseng."

The doctor disappeared a second time, and returned a few moments later with a small tray covered by a crisp, white cloth. She set it down beside the teenager, pulling away the cloth.

Reno's eyes widened. He'd known he'd be getting a shot, but...

"No fuckin' way..." he said, shaking his head vehemently. There were no less than eight separate needles, neatly arranged on the tray, each filled with its own deceptively cheerful-looking liquid. The green one, he found particularly disquieting.

"Oh, don't get yerself inta a state..." Ward chastised, "It'll be over before yeh know it. Yeh'll hardly even feel it."

But by then, Reno has already hopped down from the table and was backing towards the wall, looking like he was debating what would be the most expedient route to get him the hell out of there.

"Fuck no... You're not comin' anywhere near me with all that shit..." One needle he could handle. Maybe. If he didn't watch. But eight? What the hell was she planning to do? Turn him into a pin cushion?

He _hated_ needles. Just the thought of them made him slightly dizzy. Hell, he'd never even been able to tolerate watching other people use them... which, he supposed, was a good thing, insofar as it had always kept him far, _far_ away from the drug dens in Sector 2.

"Alright... Alright... Calm down." Ward covered the tray again, and cautiously approached her frightened patient, keeping herself between Reno and the door. "Poor thing... Come on, now. Sit yeh down and try and relax."

"I'm good right here," he replied, eying the woman with suspicion. He mentally kicked himself as he suddenly realized that he'd, quite literally, backed himself into a corner. As it stood, the only way out was through the doctor... and injections aside, she'd been pretty nice to him. He didn't want to end up hurting her just to get out of something Tseng was probably going to drag him back in and make him do anyway.

"Yeh know this is required, don't yeh?" the doctor said, her voice even and reasonable. "Yer not going ta get out of it."

Reno looked over at the tray on the table, swallowing nervously.

"Do yeh like candy?"

The redhead's eyes flicked upwards, locking onto her. Hell, yes, he liked candy. Not that he ever got to eat it real often... that shit was like gold to a kid in the slums. Hard to come by, and even harder to hold onto. He nodded mutely.

Ward chuckled softly. "I'll tell yeh what... If yeh come over here and sit down, and yeh let me get this taken care of, I'll let yeh have a little treat when we're done."

"How _much_ candy are we talkin' here?" he suddenly found himself asking. This was bribery, plain and simple, and he knew it. He knew better than to fall for something like that.

But... candy...

"One piece per injection."

He hesitated. Eight needles in exchange for eight pieces of candy? Reno shook his head.

"Two pieces."

"Yeh drive a hard bargain," Ward laughed, "Alright. Two per injection. Though I think that'll just about clean me out. I hope I don't have any more difficult patients today."

"Tch... that's your problem, not mine, Doc. And I wanna _see_ it, first." He crossed his arms stubbornly over his chest, challenging her to refuse. Ward shook her head in amusement.

"Yeh stay right there, then. No running off on me."

She vanished behind the screen, and the redhead could hear her footsteps on the cool tile floor as she crossed the suite toward her office. She returned mere moments later, a large jar cradled in one arm, which she set pointedly on the counter.

"Do we have a deal?" Ward asked, patting the lid. Reno stared at the jar, and its jewel-like contents. Any shred of resistance he might have still had died almost immediately. It was too much to turn down. He nodded and slowly approached the exam table, resuming his previous perch.

"Yeh don't have ta look if yeh don't want to," the doctor said. "I'll make it quick."

Reno took a deep breath and looked away. The first thing he felt was a cold wetness on his skin. It was followed by a sharp pinch, then three more in quick succession.

"Halfway there," Ward assured him. "I'm going ta spread these out a bit so yeh don't end up too bruised." She switched to his other arm and repeated the procedure with the remaining injections. "There yeh are. All done. Not so terrible, now was it?"

"Yeah... I guess," the redhead grudgingly muttered, "I held up my end. Now hand over the candy."

Dr. Ward snickered and retrieved the jar, presenting it to him. The teen immediately twisted off the lid and fished out one of the colorful suckers. He wasted no time in unwrapping it and popping it in his mouth, savoring the sweet, sugary taste.

"Totally worth it..." he sighed, contentedly. Ward snickered.

"Yeh can get dressed now. I'll let Tseng know he can come and get yeh."

He was on his fourth piece by the time the senior Turk returned. Reno emphatically ignored the raised eyebrow that questioned him when Tseng spotted the jar.

"Dare I ask?"

"He's not overly fond of needles," Ward explained with a somewhat affectionate smile, "We had ta work out a little arrangement ta get him vaccinated. He's probably going ta be a bit drowsy the rest of the afternoon. If I'd known he needed a full series ahead of time, I'd have just told yeh ta plan on giving him the rest of the day off from the start." She looked at Tseng accusingly. The Turk awkwardly cleared his throat.

"I apologize for the oversight."

"Hmph..." she snorted, derisively, "In any case, take him home and tuck him inta bed. But for Shiva's sake, feed the poor thing first. He's decidedly underweight. Should be a good twenty pounds heavier, as tall as he is. Other than that, he's perfectly healthy and cleared for training."

"Understood," Tseng replied, motioning for the redhead to join him. "Come on. Let's go." He turned back to Reno, and rolled his eyes at the sight of his new rookie unwrapping yet another of the doctor's confections. At the rate he was going, the jar would be empty by the time the senior Turk managed to return him to his apartment.

"You don't have to eat _all_ of those now, you know..."

~fin~


	25. Scene 25

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 25**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene Notes:**_ _Tseng is one of the few people who occasionally gets to see the softer side of Rufus_ _. This is what he was doing in Junon for those few days after Lira had been rescued._

 _From Chapter 40: Lira:_

 _Rude shook his head. "He's out. Took Elena with him, too."_

" _Out where? We get an assignment while I was gone?"_

" _Junon... Rufus sent for him. Told him to bring a copilot, so I'm guessing Tseng will be sending Elena back without him."_

 _The redhead went still, looking up at Rude in no small amount of horror. "She's flyin' solo again?"_

 _Rude shrugged. "Best guess. Not like she hasn't done it before..."_

" _Once!" Reno nearly shouted, looking decidedly nervous all of a sudden, "She's done it once! Why the fuck didn't he take you with him if he knew he was stayin' behind?"_

 _The bald Turk couldn't help but snicker quietly before answering. "Probably because she's only done it once. Needs to log more solo hours to qualify for her certification."_

* * *

Tseng stared out across the narrow band of mountains that separated Junon from Midgar. He'd been like that for much of the trip.

"Sir?"

Most of the last half hour had been spent wondering what Rufus wanted him for. He'd been... insistent... when they'd spoken earlier. In fact, had the Turk leader not acquiesced relatively quickly, he was fairly certain the younger man would have simply ordered him to drop whatever he was doing and report to Junon. Such urgency, though not unheard of, was rare for the vice president.

"Sir... ?"

He pulled himself from this thoughts, and turned his gaze on the rookie. "I'm sorry, Elena... I'm afraid I wasn't paying attention."

"I was just asking if you could tell me what we're doing yet, sir..."

Tseng sighed, frowning. "If I knew, Elena, I would be more than happy to inform you. Rufus didn't tell _me_ ,either... which, frankly, is why I've been so distracted. I'm not certain if this is just another way to amuse himself, or an actual emergency. Though I suppose I should just be glad that he's where he is _supposed_ to be for once..."

The executive's unannounced excursions had quite abruptly ceased after the recent attempt on his life... a respite Tseng was immeasurably grateful for. But at the same time, he was certain his young charge was more than capable of finding something that would ultimately become a headache for the Turks right there in Junon. He wasn't entirely looking forward to finding out what that might be, and given how eventful this week had been already, he hoped that it wouldn't be today.

The helicopter ascended to clear a ridge, and the military base came into view. Whatever Rufus was plotting now, they'd find out soon enough.

Elena had lapsed into silence. Apparently his mood was contagious... either that, or the rookie simply didn't feel it was her place to intrude any further. Tseng smiled slightly to himself. Had he brought Rude with him, the conversation would likely have been just as non-existent. The man was truly gifted when it came to silence, and the rookie, in spite of her mentor, seemed to have picked up some of Rude's habits. Reno, of course, would likely have been talking since take-off... though, he mused, perhaps not today. The redhead had other things on his mind at the moment.

The Turk leader sat up as he spotted Junon's airstrip, and near the far end, the line of empty helipads. He was only vaguely aware of Elena's request for landing clearance, focused far more intently on the white-clad figure that awaited them below. Tseng's frown deepened. Rufus had never bothered to meet him on the airstrip before. What was going on?

When the helicopter finally landed, he was out of his seat and sliding the door open before the engines even had the chance to fully wind down.

"Sir," he said, with a slight nod of his head.

"Your pilot needs to work on her airspeed. I expected you here five minutes ago," the executive replied as Elena joined him. Tseng relaxed slightly. If Rufus had time to criticize the young woman, whatever it was he'd been summoned to deal with couldn't be especially pressing.

"Yes, sir... I'll make a note of that."

Elena shot him a slightly indignant look, but said nothing... which seemed to disappoint Rufus a bit. Tseng mentally chuckled. Apparently, Reno had shared with his rookie his own personal method of dealing with the man and Elena was putting it to good use.

"At least she managed to keep the aircraft in one piece," Rufus sighed, "Come with me. I haven't got all day."

The vice president turned sharply on his heel leading them, not towards the administrative complex, as Tseng had expected him to, but rather towards one of the large hangers where Shinra's aircraft were built and maintained.

"I expect you can keep your mouth shut..." he continued, this time directing his comments exclusively at the rookie.

"Yes, sir," Elena automatically responded, and Tseng was a little surprised to see a somewhat amused expression cross her face for a moment.

"Good. I don't want either of your cohorts back in Midgar finding out about this just yet... nor do I want anyone _else_ hearing about it, ever."

The two Turks followed him through one of the massive hanger doors. The interior was brightly lit by huge lamps that hung from the ceiling. Several small planes and helicopters were scattered about in varying states of repair, but much of the space was occupied by what looked to be a new airship under construction. For a moment, Tseng assumed that was what Rufus had planned on showing them... though he had no idea why. Construction was hardly any concern of the Turks, unless something went missing. But the executive continued past the structure, heading for a back corner that had been blocked off by long curtains.

"I _had_ intended to simply have it delivered to Midgar... but I realized that a few items should probably have some additional input before they're finalized," Rufus said, pushing aside the curtain and vanishing behind it.

Elena glanced over at him curiously and he shrugged. He still had no idea what Rufus was up to. But there was really only one way to find out. Tseng brushed past the curtain, stepping into the enclosed space.

When did so, he came to such an abrupt halt that Elena very nearly walked straight into him.

"Sir?" he queried, somewhat shocked by what he was looking at.

"In spite of my father's orders that I be kept in the dark about current happenings in Midgar, the new girl let it slip to me about the attempted attack on Shinra Headquarters. As I understand it, your recent injuries were a direct result of preventing it from happening. As was the loss of my little gift to you."

Tseng glanced back at the rookie, who only then seemed to have realized that she'd unintentionally violated a direct standing order from the president... Elena's face had gone red, and she looked vaguely horrified. Rufus, meanwhile, appeared to be decidedly pleased by her sudden discomfort.

"I think that you, Reno, and I will be having a little discussion about protocol when we return to headquarters," he chastised her, though he couldn't help but feel a bit hypocritical saying it. He made it a point to keep the young executive in the loop as much as possible... though his own methods of doing so were significantly more subtle.

"Yes, sir," the rookie squeaked and Tseng had to fight the urge to laugh. He shook his head and turned back to the vice president.

"You didn't have to do this."

Rufus snorted softly. "Of course I didn't _have_ to. I merely felt like it. It provided me with a desperately needed distraction from the monotony of exile."

Tseng smirked slightly to himself. Trust Rufus to make an extravagant gift all about him rather than the recipient. His hand glided carefully over the flawless black paint and along the sleek curve of the car's hood. Though still recognizable, there were a number of subtle visual differences from the original... and probably more, he mused, that he _couldn't_ see.

"You may go now. Tseng will be remaining in Junon to see to the final details," Rufus said, dismissing the rookie. "This is not to be discussed until it has arrived in Midgar. Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes, sir," Elena replied. She looked briefly to Tseng, who nodded his own dismissal, and left the hanger, heading back to the helicopter.

"There are a still a number of decisions to be made. I suggest we discuss them over lunch."

"Of course, sir," Tseng replied, smiling faintly. He followed the younger man back in the direction they'd come. "This was very kind of you."

Rufus paused for a moment. "You are perhaps the only person on the planet who would describe me as 'kind'..." he said with a feigned sneer. "But I did want to be certain that you knew your efforts were... appreciated."

"Thank you, sir." Where Rufus was concerned, that had never been in question. Though, Tseng had to admit, it was nice to actually hear him say so.

The vice president turned and resumed his stroll towards the administrative complex. "Just... try not to blow this one up."

~fin~


	26. Scene 26

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 26**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene Notes:**_ _Elena learned that Reno's been arrested at least nine times since becoming a Turk... but she's only heard the story behind three of those incidents._

 _From Chapter 38: Restoration:_

" _Just how many times have you been arrested as a Turk?" Elena asked, somewhat incredulously, and judging by her tone, the redhead got the distinct impression that she'd heard tell of other such incidents. Reno's grin widened._

" _Oh, let's see," he replied, thinking, "Eight? No... nine. Almost forgot about the time I... uhh... yeah... nine. Ya know, unless there are some more in the last couple of years I can't remember right now. Doubt it, though. It was mostly back when I was a teenager."_

" _..._ _ **Nine times**_ _?!"_

* * *

"Can't we just watch Chocobo Chainsaw Nightmare? You've been wantin' to see that for weeks. Why the sudden desire to subject me to a chick flick?" Reno pleaded, shuddering slightly at the thought of having to sit through the endlessly boring romantic comedy Elena was presently shoving into the DVD player.

"Because," she stated, a note of finality in her tone. "I need a break from the carnage tonight. We can watch Chocobo Chainsaw Nightmare this weekend... Tonight we're watching The Diary."

Reno leaned back against the couch cushions, audibly groaning. " _'Lenaaaaa_..." he whined, "Don't do this to me..."

The rookie gave him a catlike grin and took a seat next to him, cuddling up to the reluctant redhead. "You might like it if you gave it a chance..."

"Not likely." He stubbornly folded his arms over his chest and glared at the screen, which was, by then, running the opening credits. "The last time someone dragged me out to see some stupid girly movie, I ended up sharin' a cell with a guy named Lester... who was about three times my size, drunk off his ass, and convinced I was a chick. Had a definite thing for redheads, too..."

Elena stared at him for a moment, not quite sure how to respond to that declaration... before finally opting to break down laughing. It took her several minutes before she sobered enough to say anything coherent.

"Okay... I'll tell you what..." she said, still snickering as she paused the movie, "You tell me that story, and I'll watch The Diary some other time. On my own."

"Deal," Reno replied, grateful for the reprieve. "So... It all started –"

"Oh, wait... Hang on!" Elena cried, cutting him off and dashing into the kitchen. She returned seconds later with the bowl of popcorn she'd made in preparation for movie night, and rejoined him on the couch. "Okay. Go."

Reno rolled his eyes and helped himself to a handful.

" _Anyway_... I think I was probably around eighteen at the time. Had a date with this girl from the marketing department. S'posed to have been a real animal in bed, if rumors were to be believed... but she made a guy work for it. Figured I'd give it a shot," he began, "I'd already been out with her a couple of times and the best I'd managed was a little makin' out in the car before I dropped her off at home. By date number three, I was plannin' on either makin' it into her bedroom or givin' up and findin' someone a little more willing, 'cause honestly... she was hot as fuck, but she didn't really have much going on upstairs. Which, ya know, I can deal with if I'm gettin' some, but when you're spendin' two or three hours alone with a person and not fucking... it, uh... kinda becomes an issue."

The rookie cast him a slightly disgusted look.

"What? I'm _not_ gonna pretend I was out for anything more sex before we got together..." he said, grinning. Elena shook her head.

"Alright, fine... but do you really have to be so... crude... about it?"

"Yep."

The woman laughed in spite of her annoyance, and threw a handful of popcorn at him. "You're such a jerk sometimes," she giggled. Reno grinned in reply.

"So... third date, and she wanted to go see a movie. Some stupid thing about beach house. The guy's dyin' or somethin' and the girl... decides to open a restaurant. For some reason. I wasn't really payin' that much attention. Anyway, we get about halfway through, and needless to say, I'm just about bored to death. But _she's_ lovin' it, and I can tell it's puttin' her in the mood, so I figure I'll suffer through it, 'cause this shit's _finally_ gonna pay off."

He reached for some more popcorn.

"So what went wrong?" the rookie prodded as he stuffed the handful into his mouth. Reno swallowed sharply and continued.

"Pretty much everything..." he chuckled. "First off... movie ends, and all of a sudden, she can't keep her hands off of me. Which was great... but it made it a little hard to drive her home. Ended up parkin' and climbin' into the back seat instead of headin' for her place. Fine by me... Not so fine with the cop that came drivin' by."

Elena snickered. "So he arrested you..."

"No. _He_ just kinda smirked and told us to take it somewhere more private. Cool guy, actually. Nah, it was the _next_ cop that arrested me."

"I take it you didn't take the first cop's advice and find somewhere private for your... _date_?" the rookie giggled.

"Tch... I was _tryin'_ to," Reno replied, in an irritated tone, "Driving with a girls' head in your lap while she's doin' stuff to very sensitive parts of your body isn't the easiest thing to do. And for future reference... don't ever do that to me, 'Lena. Some guys might consider that a great way to go, but it's _not_ how _I_ wanna die."

She laughed set the popcorn bowl aside before snuggling against him. "I'll try to control myself..." she teased, "So... the next cop?"

"Yeah. As ya might imagine I was a little... distracted. Kinda missed the fact that the traffic light ahead of me turned red and slammed on the breaks a little too late. Hit the car in front of me. Not real hard but... yeah. He noticed. And that was right about when _I_ noticed that it was a cop car."

He wrapped an arm around her and gently pulled her onto his lap. Elena sighed softly and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Knew that hittin' a cop was probably gonna cost me, but I was hopin' he'd see what was goin' on and _maybe_ cut me a break like the last one did... or at least just write the damn ticket fast and send me on my way so we could finish what we'd started... so I didn't try 'n _hide_ what we were doin' or anything. Guy walks up to my car and suddenly my date's lookin' up at him with this horrified expression on her face. She practically screams 'Daddy?!' and next thing _I_ know, I'm starin' down the barrel of her seriously pissed off father's gun."

Elena groaned and shook her head. "You've got to be making this up..."

"Unfortunately... no. I just have really shitty luck," he smirked, "I didn't even try and talk my way out of it by tellin' him who I was... I just cut my losses and let him take me in for reckless driving. Kept me in a cell 'til morning before they let me call Rude to come spring me."

"And that was when you met Lester?" Elena giggled, poking him in the ribs. Reno snorted softly.

"Yeah... That's when I met Lester. Spent the rest of the night bein' told how beautiful I was and tryin' to avoid bein' molested by a very large, very drunk man."

"Well..." the rookie said, in a teasing voice, "You _are_ awfully pretty..." She kissed him playfully and laughed. "I think I got my romantic comedy tonight after all..."

Reno smirked. "That mean you're ready for Chocobo Chainsaw Nightmare, now?"

~fin~


	27. Scene 27

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 27**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene Notes:**_ _Reno gets a little surprise when he returns to work. This takes place between Chapters 23 and 24, after Reno has been released from the hospital following his run-in with a zolom in the Mythril Mines._

* * *

"Just... Stop. That's not how it –"

"I can _do_ it... Hold it here."

"You have to –"

"I told you... I can do it. It's hardly rocket science."

"Well, if you're gonna do it, then do it. He'll be here any minute."

"How does it look?" Tseng asked, holding up his handiwork. Rude shook his head.

"Like a blanket wrapped around a football."

"Oh, for Shiva's sake..." Elena said at last, standing up from her desk and walking across the room. "Just let _me_ do it." She'd initially refused to take part in the joke at all – Reno had only been released from the hospital few days before, and this would be the first time he'd be setting foot in the office again since his injury – but this was ridiculous. The rookie sighed, and unwrapped the little bundle, straightened a few things out, and then carefully rewrapped it in the flannel blanket. "There."

Rude snickered softly, and glanced over at Tseng. "Told you she wouldn't be able to resist."

"I _still_ think this is just downright mean," Elena replied. "He almost _died_ and you two are playing pranks on him the second he's cleared for duty!"

Tseng set the the bundle down on Rude's desk. "That is precisely the reason we're doing this, Elena. There are few things Reno enjoys more than a good joke. Even one at his own expense."

"We're just welcoming him back in the most Reno way we can think of," Rude added with a smirk, "Besides... if he gets mad about it, we're just going to blame you."

" _Me_?" she echoed, incredulously. "How is any of this _my_ fault? _I_ didn't want anything to do with it!"

The bald Turk chuckled and held up his PHS. Elena cringed when she saw what was displayed on the screen. She never should have snapped that photo in Kalm.

"Oh... Right." the rookie sighed, defeated. She groaned quietly and slunk back to her own desk to await the inevitable. She didn't have to wait long, however. The elevator's chime was heard from out in the hall, and a few short seconds later, it was followed by quiet footsteps. Rude grinned and grabbed the object of their prior undivided attention and cradled it in his arms, hurrying to position himself just inside the door.

He'd barely made it into position when said door swung open, admitting a slightly pale-looking redhead.

"Mornin'!" he greeted them, grinning ear to ear in spite of his less than ideal appearance. "Anyone miss me?"

Instead of answering, Rude hurriedly shoved the bundle into his arms. "Hold this..." he said, brushing past his somewhat surprised partner and into the hallway. Reno blinked and looked down at what he was holding and suddenly froze upon seeing the tiny face staring back up at him from the folds of the soft pale-pink blanket. He swallowed sharply and slowly lifted his gaze to look over at Tseng, eyes wide.

Elena _did_ have to admit... the doll was pretty realistic. And as much as she disapproved of torturing their newly recovered compatriot, she still had to bite down hard on her lower lip to stop herself from laughing as the expression on his face morphed from shock to outright panic. Rude peered around the doorframe from the hallway, sniggering silently behind his stock-still partner's back.

"Is something wrong?" Tseng asked in a casual tone of voice, calmly leafing through a stack of unfiled reports. Reno didn't move a muscle, except to turn his head minutely to cast Elena a pleading look. She raised a hand to her mouth, trying to smother a giggle... and failed.

Her laughter set Rude off, as well, and he slipped back into their office, clapping the redhead on the back so hard, he very nearly dropped the doll, yelping as he fumbled to keep hold of it. It took him several more seconds to realize that it wasn't real, and when he finally did, he flung it at Rude, who deftly caught it.

"Not. Funny." He punctuated each word with a harsh jab of his finger into Rude's chest.

"I beg to differ," Tseng spoke up from the other side of the room. "Welcome back." He smiled cattishly and vanished into his own office without a further word.

Rude snickered and took a seat as well, making a point of carefully cradling the 'baby' in one arm as he checked his email. Reno glared at him and then stormed up to Elena.

"I'm gettin' you back for this..." he promised, before turning on his heel and marching off to his own desk.

"B-but... It wasn't even _my_ idea!" Elena lamented.

~fin~


	28. Scene 28

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 28**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene Notes:**_ _Reno's first day on the Plate involved learning the rules of being Tseng's new rookie._

* * *

It had started to rain almost as soon as they'd arrived at the train station. By the time they were halfway across town, it had become a steady shower. As they pulled into the parking lot of Tseng's apartment complex, the skies had opened up a torrent over the city of Midgar.

And through it all, the young redhead in the passenger seat had simply stared out the window at it, as though he'd never seen such a thing before. It had taken Tseng nearly half the journey to realize that he very liked _hadn't_. Living beneath the Plate tended to limit one's exposure to the elements.

"Reno?" The teen jumped slightly and swung his head around to face the Turks' second-in-command, a nervous expression on his face. Tseng fought the urge to laugh. "We're here."

He reached behind the seat and found an umbrella before climbing out of the car and hurrying around to retrieve the Turks' latest acquisition. Moments later, Reno joined him, huddling beneath the meager shelter, the somewhat grimy backpack that contained everything he'd brought with him from the Slums clutched to his chest.

"This is all yours?" he asked, faintly awed as he glanced up at the eight story building. Tseng shook his head. His apartment _was_ a bit larger than was typical for this part of the city... but it certainly didn't encompass the entire structure.

"Only the first floor," he replied, chuckling quietly, "Come on. I'd prefer not to be soaked."

He ushered his new charge up the walkway and unlocked the front door, showing him inside. Reno hesitated just inside, eyes roving the living room.

"Shoes off, if you would. Then you may make yourself at home."

The redhead obediently toed the worn sneakers off of his feet and nudged them over to the side of the entryway before daring to set foot on the carpeted interior. He let his bag drop from his fingertips next to the couch, and took a seat, glancing back at Tseng again with that same on-edge expression he'd had in the car. The boy was a bit like a small, wounded animal that had been unexpectedly snatched from a predator's jaws and placed in a soft, warm box lined with blankets. He didn't seem to know quite what he should be doing... what actions were safe to take... and so had defaulted to making himself as unobtrusive as possible. Tseng took a seat in the chair across from him.

"Tomorrow I'll be officially introducing you at headquarters. For today... we'll simply go over what is expected of you, and then you're free to settle in and relax."

Reno swallowed sharply and nodded his understanding.

"First and foremost... You're still a minor. Which may have little significance in the Slums but on the Plate, means that you require a legal guardian until your eighteenth birthday. As you're to be under the command of the Turks, you've been named a ward of Shinra Company, with the immediate responsibility for your welfare falling to me," the Turk lieutenant explained, "It also means that you will be staying _here_ for the time being. We'll see to getting you your own apartment in a few months, once you're a bit more acclimated to life on the Plate."

The redhead nodded again.

"As we will be living together, there are a few rules I expect you to follow. And you _will_ be punished accordingly should you break them. I trust that's clear?"

"Yeah... Got it," Reno replied, sounding somewhat resigned, as though he'd always known this was much too good to be true, and had just been waiting for the other shoe to drop. Well... Tseng certainly didn't want to disappoint him...

"Rule one... What I say goes, both on duty and off. If I tell you to do something... or _not_ to do something, for that matter... I expect you to obey, and to do so without complaint."

 _That_ seemed to give the redhead pause, but he finally nodded.

"Rule two... You may do as you please, within reason, on personal time, but you will return home no later than ten p.m., or have an overwhelmingly good excuse as to why you failed to do so."

"... What would you consider an 'overwhelmingly good excuse'?" Reno queried, with the faintest hint of challenge in his voice, and Tseng had to stop himself from laughing. _That_ attitude a bit closer to the slum rat he'd been so adamant about recruiting.

"Things beyond your control. A power outage on the trains... An injury that requires immediate medical care... Being stranded at some other location due to weather. I'm sure you'll be able to figure out what does and does not constitute an acceptable excuse."

"So... I'm guessin' bein' out drinkin' and not wantin' to leave yet isn't gonna cut it."

"You guess correctly. Which brings up rule three," he said, smiling somewhat evilly, and his new rookie visibly cringed. "And no... I am not prohibiting you from indulging in your vices. I do, however, expect you to do so with some level of responsibility. I will not tolerate you showing up at work hungover, nor is drinking while on duty permitted. I should also point out that bars on the Plate and the city police are not nearly as tolerant of underage drinking as you're likely used to. Should I have to retrieve you from the police station for that, or any other offense... I will not be pleased."

"Heh... Understood," he said, looking decidedly relieved that his guardian wasn't banning him from alcohol. "Uh... what about smokin'?"

"Not inside the apartment, and it's also universally banned inside the Shinra Building as a matter of company policy. Otherwise, though I discourage it, it's entirely your choice. And though you've already told me that you don't use... as long as we're on the subject of prohibited substances, I will reiterate that the Turks _strictly_ forbid the use of recreational drugs unless it is a matter of maintaining cover on a mission."

Reno shook his head. "Trust me... I'm not about to get into _that_ shit. I've seen what it does to people."

"Good. Then I suppose that just leaves a few minor house rules. Clean up after yourself, no guests without my permission... and if you value your life, don't touch my car."

The rookie pulled his knees against his chest, making himself more comfortable on the couch and laughed. Tseng let a cool smile creep over his face.

" _That_ wasn't a joke."

The laughter stopped... and Tseng smirked.

~fin~


	29. Scene 29

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 29**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene Notes:**_ _There's a very good reason Rude vowed never to go furniture shopping with Reno ever again..._

 _From Chapter22: Moving Day:_

 _Rude glanced at his watch and grinned. "Thank Odin... Almost said no when Reno asked me to come along for this."_

" _Why?" she asked, a little shocked. Elena had never known Rude to turn his friend down for much of anything._

" _Because he talked me into coming with him after he murdered the waterbed. Took hours... he had to try_ _ **everything**_ _. Twice. In three different stores," he groaned, "It was torture."_

* * *

The redhead flopped to one side, curling into a ball, and frowned.

"I don't like it."

Rude, who had been holding back for well over four hours now, finally groaned. He walked up to the bed, arms crossed, and stared down at the younger man.

"What's wrong with _this_ one?" he sighed.

"It's too bouncy." Reno sat up, sitting cross-legged in the center of the bed and bounced slightly, as if to demonstrate. Rude rolled his eyes.

"The last two weren't bouncy enough. The one before those was too soft. The _six_ before that were all too hard. And... I don't even _remember_ what was wrong with all the others we've looked at. What exactly are you looking for?"

"Somethin' kinda between soft and hard, that's bouncy, but not too bouncy... Obviously."

The bald Turk snorted. " _Obviously_..." he echoed. Normally, he'd be content to simply sit back and observe... but this was getting ridiculous. "Reno... We've been looking all afternoon. We're on our third store and you haven't found anything you even _sort_ of like. Just... get another waterbed."

The redhead's shoulders drooped slightly. "I can't. Someone narked on me. One more 'disturbance' and that asshole landlord of ours is gonna kick me out. I mean... probably not _real_ good odds I'll shoot the next one, too, but... face it, I can do some pretty stupid shit when I'm drunk. And Tseng'll fuckin' _kill_ me if I manage to get myself evicted."

Rude sighed and shook his head. The redhead had only moved in upstairs from him about two months ago... The guy who managed their apartment building had been gunning for Reno almost from the moment he laid eyes on him. One of these days, he was going to have to find out what his friend had done to piss the man off so badly.

"Come on... Think they've got some more back here..." he replied, resigned to his fate. At the rate they were going, Reno was going to be sleeping on the floor tonight. The two men wandered past a large collection of arm chairs and into a smaller showroom in the back of the store. "Hmph... must be the _extra_ expensive stuff..." Rude said, noting the distinct lack of anything resembling a price tag. Reno shrugged.

"Tch... So what? I make more in a month at Shinra than I made in a fuckin' _year_ at the bar... Think I can afford to treat myself once in awhile."

Rude smirked. "You also pay rent, utilities, and cable subscription now... plus extra for the porn channels. Thought you were saving for a car."

"I am. But this is a necessity," he replied with a grin and hopped onto the nearest mattress, settling into it and closing his eyes. He cracked one open again. "And so are my porn channels, so shut it."

The bald Turk snickered, but didn't comment. "So? How's this one?"

"Ya know? It's actually not bad... but I'm just not sure," the redhead said with a thoughtful frown. "Hey, do me a favor... lay down, will ya?"

"... Why?" he asked, suspicious.

"So I can see how it feels with someone in bed with me."

Well... That was definitely _not_ something he wanted to explain to some poor unsuspecting sales associate.

"I'm not getting into bed with you."

"Don't flatter yourself. You're not my type..." the younger Turk deadpanned, before his earlier grin returned. "Come _on_ ,Rude... Help a guy out, huh?"

Rude rolled his eyes and looked around, making sure they were alone before he sat down on the edge of the bed. Reno obligingly moved over, and he laid down next to him.

"Huh..."

"Now what?"

"Not bad..." The redhead suddenly rolled over and let his head rest on Rude's chest, one arm draped over his torso.

"What the hell are you doing?" Rude queried, a tired note in his voice.

"Well, maybe you and _your_ dates sleep on opposite sides of the bed and never touch, but I don't..."

In retrospect, he probably should have expected something like this. In the relatively brief time they'd known one another, he'd learned that Reno could be a bit... uninhibited. And as much as he liked his new teammate, it was something Rude was still getting used to.

"Do you like the bed, or not?" he asked. He was growing weary of humoring his fellow rookie.

"Tell ya in a second..." Reno replied, and without warning he rolled himself on top, straddling Rude's hips and sitting up, a somewhat pensive expression on his face. He bounced slightly on his knees, testing the give of the mattress. Rude glowered at him... _that_ was taking things just a little too far. He moved to shove him off. Before he could, however...

"I... uh... can I... help you?" a voice from the showroom doorway inquired, and Rude quickly turned his head to see a young saleswoman staring at the pair of them, with a somewhat awkward expression on her face. The redhead's grin widened, noticeably.

"We'll take it."

"Er... Yes, sir... I'll just... go ring you up," she said, hurriedly, and vanished around the corner, her face a somewhat unnaturally bright shade of red.

"What's up with her?" Reno asked, innocently, not quite able to suppress the laughter in his voice. Rude glared up at him.

"You do realize I have to kill you now, right?"

~fin~


	30. Scene 30

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 30**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene Notes:**_ _Tseng broke when his sister died._

 _From Chapter38: Restoration:_

" _Tseng was different back then. He was pretty cocky, actually. But don't ever tell him I said that. I kinda enjoy livin'," Reno said, with a joking wink, "He was the best and he made sure ya knew it. He's mellowed a lot over the years. Don't know if he's ever told ya what happened to his sister but... that changed him. A lot."_

 _The rookie nodded. "Yeah... He told me about that," she said, softly._

" _First and last time I've ever seen him cry. Fucked him up pretty bad for awhile. I don't think he's ever completely forgiven himself for her death. Probably never will. He told me once that he'd never make the mistake of puttin' loyalty to the company before family again... because he didn't think he could live with it twice."_

* * *

The lights were off. Which was odd, given that Reno knew Tseng was there. His car was parked in its usual space, the curtains were drawn tightly over the front window of the apartment, and the door stood slightly ajar.

He'd heard about the bombing shortly after it happened. The entire Sector 3 station was decimated. Hundreds dead or injured. He'd heard about the _Turks'_ involvement a few hours later, after he'd returned from the mission Tseng had sent him off on that morning... it you could consider being a glorified delivery boy a 'mission'. Rude had filled him in on what he'd missed. He'd also informed him that Tseng had left the office shortly afterward and hadn't returned. He was still missing at quitting time.

Veld was tight-lipped on the subject... apparently the details were need-to-know, and the rookies on the team simply didn't need to know. He hadn't been particularly concerned... until he'd returned home, that is.

Technically speaking, it wasn't home anymore. He'd moved out. Or was in the process of, anyway. His new place, in the same building as Rude's, was still a little bit of a work in progress... So he'd been splitting his time the past week or so between his apartment and Tseng's spare bedroom. His mentor didn't seem to mind.

Which was why the redhead had felt perfectly justified in showing up without warning after Veld had cut him loose for the day. The moment he saw the open door, he knew something wasn't right. Slipping silently inside only confirmed it.

Reno stopped short just steps beyond the threshold and backed into the shadows, one hand reaching for his EMR, the other slowly easing the toppled floor lamp out of his path in case he had to make a hasty retreat during his investigation. Tseng's apartment had been trashed. _Completely_ trashed. Furniture was overturned, books were scattered, décor had been torn from the walls and flung aside... Virtually nothing he could currently get eyes on had been left untouched.

A part of him wondered if he ought to be calling for backup. The place looked like a battle to the death had been waged there not long ago. It was only the distinct lack of blood or a body that made him push forward alone. He crept through the darkened living room to the nearest door... which happened to be the guest room he'd been living in for the past four and a half months... and cracked it open, peering inside. Though just as dark as the rest of the apartment, it was clear that, for some reason, _his_ space had been left entirely untouched... which struck him as bizarre, given the state of the rest of the premises. Once he was satisfied that no one was hiding in the shadows, he shut the door and moved on.

The kitchen was, like the living room, destroyed. Drawers had been ripped from their docks, their contents scattered. One seemed to have been flung violently into the wall, leaving behind a gaping hole in the plaster. Reno's grip tightened on the handle of his weapon as he moved stealthily down the hallway towards the master bedroom. As he approached, he heard a faint sound... heavy breathing... shuddering, gasping breaths. His pace quickened as he imagined Tseng, attacked and injured in his own home.

The reality was much worse.

He was seated on the floor next to the window, knees drawn up towards his chest, head in his hands. He didn't even look up when Reno hit the wall switch, bathing the room in light.

"... Boss?" he ventured, not certain what was going on, or how he should be handling this. Tseng still didn't look at him.

"I killed her..." came the muffled admission from his mentor, in a voice laced with more sadness than Reno had ever dreamt it possible for three little words to convey. The redhead looked around, half-expecting to see a corpse laid out on the floor. There was only the general destruction of the man's bedroom. He tucked his mag-rod back into his jacket and knelt down beside the senior Turk. The familiar – though decidedly out of place – scent of liquor that hit him as he did so took him by surprise. Tseng virtually never drank to excess. A mostly empty bottle beside him, and the shattered remains of a second across the room seemed to indicate that today was the exception.

"Who?" he prodded, confused. Tseng had killed a lot of people in the time Reno had known him. That was their job. He'd never seen his superior react like _this_ , though. The Wutaiian drew another shaky breath and finally lifted his head.

Anguish. Horror. Disgust. Self-loathing. Gone was the poised, unflinching exterior Reno had come to know so well. Tseng's eyes revealed it all. The tears that ran freely down his cheeks only added to the unmasking, and Reno recoiled slightly in shock. Nothing got to Tseng like that... Nothing.

"Mayu..." he whispered, voice cracking with emotion. Reno's eyes widened. He'd only met the woman a handful of times during her recent visit, but Tseng had made it clear that his sister meant a great deal to him... and that if the redhead were to lay so much as a finger on her, he wouldn't be getting said finger back. She was _supposed_ to be on her way back to Wutai by now...

Tseng let his head drop back into his arms with a sob, and Reno was torn between staying with him or slipping out of the room and calling for that backup after all. Veld had known him far longer than Reno had... maybe the Turk leader would know what to do...

Reno swallowed sharply. Seeing Tseng so distraught was terrifying. He'd come to believe that the man was unshakeable. Watching him fall apart right in front of him left his feeling helpless... and more than slightly worried. He didn't know _what_ he should be doing. He didn't even really know what had happened... and he wasn't sure if he should press for more details or if that would only make things worse.

There was _one_ thing he knew he had to do, however. He wasn't certain it was strictly necessary, but he wasn't about to take the chance. Reno reached into Tseng's jacket and removed his gun from it's holster, tucking it into the waistband of his pants behind his back... well out of the Turk lieutenant's reach.

"Come on, Boss... Let's get you off the floor..." he said a moment later, urging the other man to his feet. It took some effort. Tseng was well past wasted... and Reno wondered if the two bottles he knew about were just the tip of the iceberg. They'd almost certainly come from the redhead's little stash in the kitchen he hadn't gotten around to relocating yet... and he had a lot more than just two. He helped him stagger over to the bed, and sat with him until he finally passed out.

* * *

Reno yawned as he tied off the last of the trash bags and shoved it out the door. He'd deal with them properly after he'd gotten some sleep. It had taken all night. The apartment was far from pristine, but at least it no longer looked like a pack of raging nibelwolves had gotten inside. Though he wasn't sure _what_ to do about the hole in the kitchen wall...

Tseng had still been sleeping off last night's binge drinking when he'd checked in on him a little while ago... and Reno'd had the dubious pleasure of finally calling Veld and telling him what was going on, as it was obvious that the man would be in no shape to head into the office today. If Veld had been surprised, it hadn't shown... and he'd given the rookie leave to stay with him for the day, which only made Reno more concerned. The Turk leader had sounded worried.

"... You cleaned."

The rookie jumped slightly at the unexpected observation, and turned to see his mentor, looking pale and drawn as he leaned against the wall for support. Apparently even hungover and exhausted, Tseng could still sneak up on him.

"Tried to, anyway. Figured you wouldn't be up to it for awhile."

Tseng nodded slightly and made his way over to the couch, silently collapsing onto the cushions.

"So... You gonna tell me what last night was all about?"

The older Turk flashed him a pained grimace and sighed heavily. "Sector 3 was my idea. My fault. I don't know what I was thinking, suggesting something like that. And Mayu paid for it..."

Reno took a seat next to him, watching him carefully. That made a little more sense than the scant answers he'd been given last night, at any rate. If his sister had been at the Sector 3 train station yesterday... no wonder Tseng was blaming himself.

"Wrong place at the wrong time... You couldn't've known..."

Tseng turned to him, a look of rage on his face.

"I _did_ know! I could have warned her!" he shouted, suddenly standing. Without warning, he upended the coffee table, sending it flying several feet from where it had rested. "I could have saved her..."

"Tseng..."

"Leave me alone."

"Boss, I don't think –" Reno began, only to cut himself off at the nearly homicidal look in the other Turk's eyes. He quickly swallowed what he'd been about to say.

"Get out, and _leave me alone_!"

He didn't try to argue. Something told him that trying to talk to him right now wasn't going to be especially productive... and might very well prove hazardous to his health. Reno stood and slowly backed away until he was sure he was out of range. He couldn't recall ever being legitimately afraid of Tseng. Intimidated, certainly, but he'd never had the impression that he might actually harm him. Right now, though... he wasn't so sure about that. Right now... it seemed to be taking everything Tseng had in him to restrain himself.

He didn't want to leave. This wasn't like Tseng at all, and Reno had no idea what the man might do once he was gone... but there wasn't much choice. Decision grudgingly made, he turned and started towards the door. Tseng said nothing further... not even when the redhead scooped a small object off of the side table before he departed.

Reno closed the door behind him. As he made the short walk down the front path, his hand clenched around Tseng's gun in a white-knuckled grip. He didn't know what the man _might_ do... but there was no way in hell he was going to leave him with the temptation to do something that couldn't be undone. He couldn't go through that again.

~fin~


	31. Scene 31

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 31**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene Notes:**_ _Reno wasn't always such a great dancer... which Rude discovered the hard way._

 _From Chapter30: Wedding Bells:_

" _Figures you're a natural dancer..." she sighed, letting her head rest on his shoulder._

" _I'm not," he replied, with a self-deprecating laugh. "I actually used to have pretty terrible rhythm. Had to play escort to one of the President's mistresses at a company function a while back, though... there was dancing, and I was expected to participate for some Ifrit-forsaken reason. Tseng made me practice 'til I could do this in my sleep. With Rude..."_

 _Elena's entire body shook with laughter, and she missed several steps, having to shuffle awkwardly for a moment to catch up to her dance partner. "Poor Rude..." she snickered._

* * *

"One, two, three... One, two, thr– Reno, are you even paying attention?"

The rookie shuffled awkwardly, trying to get back into step. He succeeded only in trodding on his dance partner's foot. Again. Rude grunted loudly and glared at him.

"Sorry..." the redhead muttered for what had to have been at least the twentieth time.

"... Can we take a break? Before _he_ breaks something?" Rude asked, pleadingly.

Tseng sighed and switched off the music. "Alright. I suppose a brief rest won't hurt."

The two rookies broke apart and Rude limped off to one side of the room, taking a seat and pulling off a shoe to massage the abused appendage. Reno shook his head and made his way over to Tseng instead.

"Boss... Can't someone _else_ take this assignment? I already told ya... I can't fuckin' do this shit. Rude knows what he's doin'. Send him!"

"I'm afraid I can't. The president requested you personally."

Reno blinked, surprised. "Why?" he asked, his tone bewildered. He'd been with the Turks for just over nine months... not even a year yet. And he certainly hadn't done anything in particular that would have brought him to the attention of the president. Hell, he'd only even met the guy twice.

"He didn't say... Though given the assignment, I would suspect it's because you're young and attractive and... noticeable. You stand out in a crowd, as does your date. Should the press take an interest in the young lady, they're not as likely to make the connection between her and President Shinra with you standing next to her."

"... Uh... He knows I'm only seventeen, right?"

"His current mistress is only _eighteen,_ " his mentor responded.

"Yeah... Okay, thanks for _that_ image." Not that it was any of his business what people got up to in the bedroom. But, hell... Shinra's own _kid_ was only a couple of years older than the chick the old bastard was fucking. That... was a little creepy in Reno's expert opinion.

"You're quite welcome," Tseng replied, smirking. "Alright... enough. Back to practicing. Rude? If you would?"

Reno distinctly heard his fellow rookie groan. He really couldn't blame him for being less than enthusiastic about this. They'd been at it since lunch time. Tseng seemed bound and determined that his protege master the waltz before the end of the workday... or at least he had when they'd started four hours ago. The rookie could see the frustration building.

"Perhaps if _you_ lead for awhile..." the senior Turk said to Rude, as he started the song over again. At this rate, Reno mused, he was going to be hearing that music in his dreams tonight. Or his nightmares. Whichever he ended up having after _this_ disaster. He really didn't know why this was so fucking difficult. He had no problems following Tseng's example in combat training, and he'd scored exceptionally high – apparently an all-time Turk record, in fact – on his agility and coordination evaluations during his recent Hell Week. One would think dancing would come naturally to him. But something about trying to move in time with a rhythm other than his own natural one threw him.

"..." Rude remained silent, but moved into position, grasping Reno's right hand with his, while the other settled on his upper back. The redhead sighed in resignation and let his own free hand rest on his partner's shoulder, already dreading the attempt.

"And... One, two, three..." Tseng began, as Rude took a step forward.

He tried... he really did. But unfortunately, he started out immediately on the wrong foot, which inevitably resulted in the now-familiar panicked shuffle to correct the mistake. Reno cringed empathetically as his foot came down hard on Rude's again. Tseng roughly pinched the bridge of his nose, and murmured something the redhead didn't quite catch... though he was fairly certain it had been in Wutaiian, and if he'd had to venture a guess he'd have bet it was something along the lines of a plea for patience.

 _Rude's_ patience, meanwhile, seemed to be wearing thin... though to his credit, he continued on for several more minutes, trying to guide the younger man into the proper rhythm. Right up until one of his fellow rookie's missteps caught him by surprise and sent him stumbling forward himself. Reno staggered back, trying to restore both men's balance, but it was too late. The pair crashed to the floor, in a tangle of limbs.

"Oh, for Leviathan's _sake_..." Tseng sighed, as he picked his protege up bodily before offering a hand to Rude and pulling him to his feet as well. "I think you may actually be getting _worse_."

"Have a heart, boss... I'm gonna end up cripplin' Rude at this rate. Assumin' he doesn't just kill me first in self defense..."

The Wutaiian glanced at his watch, and cast the pair a defeated look. "Perhaps I _am_ pushing you too hard. I expect you're _both_ getting tired by now... it's nearly the end of the day. You're dismissed. Go ahead and go home."

"Thank Shiva," Rude said under his breath.

"We'll pick this up again first thing in the morning," he continued, before turning on his heel and exiting the training room. The two rookie Turks looked at one another.

"Feel like callin' in sick tomorrow, partner?"

"... Definitely think I'm coming down with something," Rude agreed.

"I heard that," Tseng's voice called back to them. "Don't even think about it."

The only answers he received were twin groans.

~fin~


	32. Scene 32

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 32**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene Notes:**_ _This takes place immediately prior to Chapter 1. Elena has been with the Turks long enough to start to feel like part of the team, but not long enough to be truly confident in that position._

 _From Chapter29: Lockdown:_

" _She pissed off or somethin'?" Reno asked, cocking an eyebrow. The range was one of Elena's favorite stress relievers. He didn't frequent it himself, but he'd heard rumors that she occasionally liked to tape photos of whomever she happened to be most upset with to the targets. He was pretty sure his had to have made it up there more than once, if it was true. Hell, if there was really any truth to the rumor, it had probably been a permanent fixture for her first few months as a Turk._

* * *

 _BANG!_

Elena forced herself to keep her breathing slow and steady... and then squeezed off three more rounds in quick succession, striking her target dead center. The magazine now empty, she hit the button to her right with her fist, and recalled the target paper from the end of the range.

Eleven boxes of ammunition, and she was _still_ angry.

Reno had _humiliated_ her today. And in front of Tseng, no less. That arrogant, obnoxious, perverted son of a bitch... and there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it. Like it or not, he was her superior. She had no choice but to take the abuse. She'd been absolutely seething when she'd left the training room earlier, though...

It was meant to have been hand-to-hand combat drills – which, admittedly, she _did_ need some work on – but the redhead had taken things _much_ too far, even if it _had_ been meant largely as some demented joke. She didn't appreciate being thrown and not given the opportunity to recover. She didn't appreciate being tackled to the mat when she _was_ eventually allowed to regain her footing. And she _certainly_ didn't appreciate being held down, tickled mercilessly, and forced to beg to be released in front of both her commanding officer and a senior Turk. And even then, the rotten bastard had refused to stop until she proclaimed him the victor of the match... though by that point, she'd been nearly incoherent and dangerously close to losing control of her bladder. When he finally _had_ let her up, she'd very nearly decked him one. Had Tseng not been standing six feet away at the time, she likely would have, disciplinary action be damned.

The redhead, of course, had thought the whole thing was hilarious, which only made her want to hit him harder. Somehow, though, she'd managed to keep her temper in check, storming off the moment she was dismissed, cheeks aflame. She'd gone straight to the firing range.

The target finally reached her and the rookie Turk yanked it off the clip, glaring at the smug grin that stared back at her.

"Excellent grouping..." a voice behind her commented, and she gave a soft squeak of surprise as she turned and found herself face to face with Tseng. "Though I'm quite glad you're content with shooting holes in photographs rather than the real thing..."

"Sir! I-I... I was... just..." she stammered, awkwardly shoving the enlarged printout of Reno's company ID photo under a stack of regular target sheets. She could feel her face heating up again, and was certain she was turning a fairly alarming shade of red. Elena had always hated the fact that she'd never been able to hide the fact that she was embarrassed. Her brothers had teased her endlessly over it when they were little.

Tseng shook his head dismissively. "So long as you keep your target practice confined to the range, I have no issue with your preferred method of stress relief," he said, and she could have sworn that she'd detected the faintest hint of a smile. It had vanished just as quickly as she'd noticed it. "If I might offer some advice, however... ?"

"Er... yes, sir?" she replied, uncertainly. He didn't _seem_ upset... but Reno _was_ his second-in-command. And, from what she'd seen – and heard around the office – a very close friend as well. The rookie wasn't quite sure how the Turk leader really felt knowing that she was shooting at the redhead. Or a reasonable facsimile of him, at any rate.

"The direct approach tends to work best with Reno. If you have an issue with his treatment of you, you may find it more beneficial to tell him so in person... rather than secretly using his photograph to practice killshots."

Elena frowned slightly. "S-sir? Couldn't... _you_ say something to him?"

"I could," Tseng replied, turning to go. "But this is something you need to address on your own first, Elena. Don't let Reno's rank... or Reno himself... intimidate you so badly."

"Yes, sir," she replied, resigned. She sighed inaudibly. That _always_ seemed to be Tseng's answer to her requests for help with his pain-in-the-ass Second, unless he did something truly out of line. The Wutaiian nodded and took his leave, leaving Elena alone on the range. She fished her target out from under the stack and glared at it.

"I really hate you..." she muttered, crumpling the sheet and tossing it into a nearby garbage can.

* * *

"Hey, Boss..." Tseng was greeted as he stepped into the elevator. "Gettin' in some target practice?"

"Just seeing to a minor issue," the Turk leader replied. The doors closed behind him. He noted that the button for the parking deck was already illuminated. "I take it you're on your way out as well, then?"

Reno nodded and leaned back against the wall of the car. "Yeah... Had a date, but I think I'll see if I can get her to take a raincheck and just call it a night. Maybe grab a beer or three on the way home. Don't know what the hell I did today that's got me so worn out, but I'm fuckin' beat."

Tseng cast him a stern look. "I trust I need not remind you that I won't be especially pleased if 'a beer or three' turns into an evening of bar hopping. You're working tomorrow..."

"Tch... Come on, Boss," the redhead replied, with a grin, "You know me..."

"Yes. I do. And it _has_ been some time since I reminded you of regulations..." Tseng said, chuckling softly, "Just remember... You'll be handling security for Hojo, hungover or not. In fact, should you deign to arrive in the office hungover, I _may_ be tempted to reassign you to _Scarlet's_ detail instead."

Reno visibly shuddered. "Fuck, Tseng, if you're tryin' to scare me sober... it's workin'," he shot back as the elevator chimed and the doors opened on the parking deck.

~fin~


	33. Scene 33

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 33**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene Notes:**_ _Two years after the end of Taking Care of Reno. Because I'm evil. ^_^_

* * *

Tseng hit the ground hard. He was bleeding badly, both from the blow to the head that had first taken him down, and from the gunshot wound to the leg that had stopped him from retreating enough to return fire.

"Sir!" Elena cried out in pain as one of their attackers gripped her by the hair, dragging her along. They weren't in the crater any longer... he knew that much. But where they'd brought them, the Turk leader hadn't the faintest idea. The trees were strange here, and the building looked ancient and abandoned.

He heard a laugh from the largest of the three, as he blocked Elena's attempts at escape, toying with her cruelly.

"Now, now... Play nice with your new toy. You wouldn't want to break it too quickly..."

"Let go of her!" Tseng growled, and lunged forward, only to be laid out again by a sharp kick to the chest, that left him coughing violently.

"Where's Mother?" The question came from the youngest looking of the trio, his shoulder-length, silvery hair hanging forward as he leaned over the Turk, their faces uncomfortably close. Tseng narrowed his eyes and spat at him in reply. His reward was a sharp backhand to the face.

"Loz... Why don't you see how your new toy can bend?" the third man suggested. Tseng glared. He was the one who'd shot him... and prevented him from coming to Elena's aid.

The man holding Elena grinned evilly and gripped her hand, bending her fingers backwards and forcing her to her knees in front of him. The young woman did her best not to cry out, but failed when the first _snap_ echoed among the trees. At the second snap, she screamed.

"Where's Mother?" the youngest repeated. Tseng's eyes narrowed angrily, but he refused to speak, and the long-haired gunman guarding him kicked him in the ribs. He fell back to the ground in a heap. The one they'd called Loz released Elena's hand and returned his grasp to her hair, jerking her head back. He lifted his free hand, and a faint aura of energy danced across the surface of his weapon... a powerful gauntlet capable, as Tseng had discovered first-hand not long ago, of stunning an opponent with even a glancing blow.

"Where's _Mother_?" the apparent leader demanded once again. Tseng's eyes met Elena's, and she shook her head... minutely, given that it was being held in place by the short-haired captor... but enough to tell him not to speak just for her sake. She knew as well as he did the importance of their mission. They couldn't allow themselves to be broken.

In response to Tseng's silence, Loz drew his fist back, and let it fly.

" _STOP!_ " their leader suddenly demanded, and the other young man froze, less than an inch from slamming the weapon into Elena's abdomen, a confused look on his face. The leader stood silently, and calmly walked towards them, head cocked to one side with an expression of curiosity. He reached forward and placed a hand, almost tenderly, on Elena's stomach, simply staring at her for several long moments.

"Don't hurt this one," he said, suddenly smiling coldly. "They have _our_ Mother. Now we have theirs. Maybe... they'll want to trade."

Tseng's eyes widened at the implication, and he looked at Elena in shock, sudden shame overtaking him at the danger he'd put her in, not knowing. He had to get her out of here. Before they could change their minds.

"Play with the other one all you like," their captor added.

~fin~


	34. Scene 34

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 34**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene Notes:**_ _This takes place shortly after Chapter 17 of Taking Care of Reno: Advent Children, when_ _Elena is around two and a half months pregnant._

* * *

"... Why'd you pick this one?" Rude asked, looking around the lodge. It was much the same as every other residential building at Healen that Reno and Elena could have picked for their new home... with one important difference. It was only partially finished. It had still been under construction when the Meteor Crisis had begun, and afterward, it seemed that no one had quite gotten around to putting on the finishing touches. The walls remained unpainted, the floors were devoid of carpeting, and, Rude noted as he flipped the unresponsive wall switch in a futile attempt to turn on the lights, there was still some electrical work to be done.

"It's the closest to the lookout. 'Lena really likes the view."

"This was _Elena's_ idea?" Rude queried, not at all convinced.

"Uh... No. _I_ kinda talked her into it. And I swore to her I'd have it all fixed up before the baby's born, so... _you're_ good at this shit, right? Partner?" the redhead asked, pleadingly. Rude sighed.

"... I'll try and help you fix the lights. I'm _not_ painting. Or carpeting. Or doing anything requiring the use of power tools."

* * *

Rude grimaced as paint spattered his sunglasses. He was absolutely _certain_ that painting had been on his list of things he wasn't going to do. So why in the nine hells was he putting on a second coat? He glanced over at the paint cans sitting unassumingly in the corner and shook his head. Pale, pastel green.

He knew damn well why.

Reno had bitten off a little more than he could chew, and his partner couldn't help but take pity on him, _that_ was why. The redhead had thought he'd be able to have Elena comfortably situated in their new home in a week or two. A week or two had very quickly stretched to a month. And then dangerously close to _three_ months. Things were nearly finished now, but Elena had made it known, in no uncertain terms, that if they were still living in the main Shinra lodge by the time she was in her second trimester, Reno was going to be sleeping on the couch until they _did_ finally move out. Rude had promised himself that, this time, he was going to let his friend suffer the consequences of one of his little schemes... but when the ultimatum was made, his resolve had almost immediately buckled. He'd at last consented to bail his friend out of the mess he'd gotten himself into.

Which was why he was spending his third weekend in a row covered in paint. Pale, pastel green this week.

He finished painting the last section and breathed a relieved sigh. He was done. Finally. His momentary relief was obliterated by a loud crash from another room.

"Uhh... Rude?" the redhead's voice called several seconds later, and the Turk cringed, wondering what he could possibly have done now, and how many stitches it was going to require.

"Yeah?"

"Could... uh... could you come're a minute?"

Rude groaned softly and set down his paintbrush before making his way down the hall.

"Should I just call Dr. Ward _now_?" he asked as he stepped into the living room. Reno was nowhere in sight. "... Where are you, anyway?"

"Kitchen..." his partner said, somewhat meekly.

"Odin help him," the bald Turk breathed, mostly to himself, and stepped into the next room wondering just what he was going to find. He stopped short, staring in disbelief.

"Okay, so before you ask _how_..."

"I don't even want to know."

"Oh... Good. Uh... so... could you... ?"

Reno was wedged tightly in between the wall and precariously tipped refrigerator, unable to push it off of himself and looking decidedly put out by the fact. Rude shook his head and hauled the appliance upright again, releasing the pinned Turk and Reno quickly squirmed his way out of the alcove to freedom.

"... Don't ask," he pleaded, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head.

Rude chuckled. "I already said I didn't want to know," he replied, and gently ruffled his friend's hair. "I'm done painting, by the way."

Reno's expression quickly brightened. "Yeah? Awesome! 'Cause I'm just about done with shit in _here_ , too." He grinned widely. "Finally... a light at the end of the fuckin' tunnel..."

"Hmph... you might not end up on the couch _after all_."

"If there was ever a cause for celebration, that'd be it," Reno snickered. He looked up at his friend, and hesitated a moment. "So... can I get your help with _one_ more project?"

An eyebrow rose behind dark lenses. "Reno..." Rude said warningly, "You promised. Painting was the last thing you were gonna beg me to do."

Reno sighed dejectedly. "Yeah. Okay. You're right... I've been askin' a lot of you, and it's really not fair I _keep_ doin' it. Before you leave, though, can you give me a hand movin' somethin'? Damn thing's heavy as hell."

"Hmph... and _then_ I can go home, crack open a beer, and relax?"

"You can even take one of my Ultimas outta the fridge," the redhead replied, glancing back at the appliance. "Er... Assumin' any of 'em survived..."

Rude smirked slightly. "Alright. What are we moving?"

Reno grinned widely. "A surprise for 'Lena," he said, leading the other Turk down the hall to a small, empty room. Empty, save for a large cardboard box sitting in the middle of the floor, that is. "We still gotta raid the warehouse for furniture 'n shit, but I didn't think they'd have anything like this on hand, so... last time I was in Edge..."

"What is it?" Rude queried, curious now. Healen had most everything they could ever need, as far as furniture went, sitting around in storage or in other buildings on the property. Shinra had made it a point to switch up the décor on a regular basis for their corporate guests back when the place had been a private vacation spot. There was tons.

"... A crib. Ya know. For the baby."

Rude went to lift the box and was shocked at just how heavy it was.

"What's it made from? Cement?" he asked in an incredulous tone.

"Told ya it weighed a ton," Reno said with a grin, as he moved to grasp the other end of the box. "On three?"

"Three," Rude stated, lifting. The redhead staggered slightly, following suit.

"Left," Reno grunted as the shuffled the load down the hall

"Left is a wall."

" _My_ left."

Rude backed into the room, and set his burden down, suddenly realizing that he was right back in the room he'd just finished painting. Reno collapsed on top of the box with a groan, and his partner chuckled.

"Quite acting like I wasn't carrying most of it," he teased. The redhead snickered and stood up opening the box, and Rude blinked.

"It's... uh... some assembly required," Reno said, noting his expression. Rude shook his head and sighed, knowing that he wasn't going to be able to relax thinking about Reno trying to put this nightmare together all by himself.

"Go get me my beer," he said, resigned to his fate, "We're gonna be here for awhile."

After all... what were brothers for?

~fin~


	35. Scene 35

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 35**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene Notes:**_ _Reno is far more openly demonstrative of his protective nature... but Tseng doesn't take it well when someone hurts one of his own, either._

 _From Chaper 21: Where There's Smoke:_

" _Then... someone's out there, trying to kidnap me," Elena stated, shuddering slightly._

" _Don't need to worry about that," Reno replied gently, "Me 'n Rude tracked him down. Tseng's... uh... dealing with him... as we speak."_

* * *

 _Inhale... hold..._

It was rare he allowed himself to go so far. But these were special circumstances. One of _his_ had been attacked. Injured. Hospitalized. Made homeless. And it could have been so much worse.

 _Exhale... slowly... controlled._

And why? Because she'd had the audacity to turn down his unwanted advances. And this _slime_ had felt himself within his rights to simply take what he wanted. Well... Two could play that game. And what Tseng had wanted was blood. He'd taken quite a bit.

 _Inhale... hold..._

It hadn't been quick. It most certainly hadn't been painless. Carson March had seen a side of Tseng that very few ever had... and that none on the receiving end had lived to speak of. He never permitted himself to become enraged. He was always slow... deliberate... meticulous. By the end of it, his victim had stunk of fear, and Tseng wasn't too proud to admit that he had savored it.

 _Exhale...calm... centered._

Of course, the end result was perhaps even more gruesome than had he simply torn the man limb from limb. If nothing else, it was just as bloody. The ancient Wutaiians had called the technique death by a thousands cuts. Tseng had counted them carefully. He had made sure March had felt every last one of them.

 _Inhale... hold..._

The downside was the mess. He couldn't leave it for the janitorial staff. He'd have to deal with it personally. He was going to be here for awhile. But first...

 _Exhale..._

Tseng pulled his PHS from his jacket's inner pocket and calmly dialed Rude's number. He'd asked him to stand by, and he doubted he'd gone any farther than their office. The Turk answered on the first ring.

"Sir?" his voice queried.

"Join me downstairs. I need you to... _escort_... our guest out of the building."

"On my way."

"Stop by the supply closet for me on your way down. I have some cleaning to do."

He ended the call, and simply remained seated in the chair he'd been sitting in for almost half and hour now. Lifeless eyes stared back at him from the seat opposite him accusingly, but he felt no guilt. He didn't regret it. He never did... not when it was justified, at any rate. And _this_ had been justified. If the bastard hadn't foolishly overdosed Elena, he _might_ have succeeded in kidnapping her... and Leviathan only knew how long he would have had her before they found her. The thought of what he would have done to her...

This _was_ justified. One did not harm a Turk and simply walk away from it... not on Tseng's watch. Not _his_ family. He'd die first before he allowed that.

The door opened, and a faint squeaking broke the silence of the room. Tseng turned just enough to see Rude wheeling in a mop and bucket.

"Need a hand?" he asked. Tseng shook his head and stood.

"It's my mess. I'll deal with it. See to the body."

Rude nodded his understanding, and unfurled a long zippered bag that had been tucked under one arm. He lifted what was left of March out of the chair tucked him inside, sealing the bag, and lifting it. He settled it over one shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Reno says Elena is awake."

"Dispose of March and then you're free to go and visit. Tell them I'll be along myself once I've finished here."

"Sure you don't want a hand?"

"Thank you for offering... but when have I ever accepted?" Tseng asked, briefly flashing him a grateful smile.

"See you in while, then," Rude replied, turning and disappearing through the door. It closed softly behind him, leaving Tseng in silence once more. With a sighed, the Turk leader stripped off his jacket, and folded it neatly, setting it aside on the chair he'd just vacated, and reached for the mop. The scent of bleach water was already beginning to fill the room.

He'd never been fond of that smell.

~fin~


	36. Scene 36

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 36**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene Notes:**_ _Reno missed out on Elena's first evaluation for her ultimate promotion to rookie status in the Turks. Apparently, it's an event she'd rather forget._

 _From Chapter 38: Restoration:_

" _I see." The Turk leader regarded his lieutenant thoughtfully for a moment. It was certainly a good sign that the younger man was improving... and that the improvement seemed to be accelerating. He smiled slightly. "Incidentally... you actually were not at Elena's first evaluation. You were supposed to be, of course, but you and Rude were held up on a small assignment that rather unexpectedly turned into a much larger one."_

" _Heh... Guess I won't be rememberin' that, then..." the redhead laughed._

" _Thank goodness..." Elena replied, cringing as her face reddened, "That's something I'd kind of like to forget..."_

 _Tseng chuckled. "Yes, I rather imagine you would..."_

 _Reno glanced back at Elena, and then over towards Tseng, staring at him expectantly. After a few moments passed in silence, he gave an irritated groan. "Come on, boss... ya can't just say shit like that and then not tell me!"_

* * *

"How long have they been at it?" Tseng asked immediately upon entering the darkened room. He peered through the mirrored window that separated him from the seven candidates presently making the attempt at extracting themselves from the locked chamber below. Virdiria Nacelle snorted softly.

"If you'd shown up on time, you'd already know the answer to that..."

"I _did_ apologize for my tardiness when I called you to let you know I was running behind schedule. Twice, in fact," the Turk leader replied with a faint smile. "I had hoped Reno would ultimately be able to make it for this... so I waited as long as I possibly could."

He'd put off his departure to Junon for nearly an hour. In the end, though, he'd had to either leave or miss the evaluation entirely.

"Oh, now _there's_ a great plan. That lieutenant of yours is _always_ late," the lieutenant commander chuckled.

"Fair point... but _this_ time it wasn't his fault. He and Rude are busy dealing with an unexpected issue in Wall Market. But you still haven't answered my question."

Viridia glanced down at her watch. "Coming up on ten minutes. The record's seventeen, so I'd wager we still have a bit of a wait. Got any favorites?"

"Mmm... I was exceptionally impressed with Iverson in the training sessions I've observed. Warner as well."

"Which of the two does Reno prefer?"

Tseng awkwardly cleared his throat. "... Neither, actually."

Viridia's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Oh, _really_? So who does _he_ want."

"Brewer," the Turk answered, a note of skepticism in his voice. "Though to be honest... I have a few reservations about her, myself. We'll see how she does in the evaluation."

Almost on cue, there was a muted shout of victory as a young blonde woman keyed in the correct sequence for the lock on the gate separating her from her goal, and set to work on the last obstacle... the exit door itself... while the other six were still busy at their own tasks. Tseng frowned and shook his head.

"Think she'll go back and help the others once she gets it open?" Viridia asked. The evaluation, as presented to those being tested, was simply to get out of the room as quickly as they could. It was specifically engineered so that the _fastest_ way to do so was to work together... but it was perfectly possible for a single recruit to escape on their own. Doing so, however, was considered an immediate fail... because what was really being evaluated was the potential Turks' ability and willingness to work as a team, not their individual skills.

Before Tseng could answer, the door swung open, and the young woman stepped outside in triumph, leaving the remaining recruits behind as she grinned widely. Viridia looked at her watch again.

"Fifteen minutes, twenty-one seconds. She _beat_ the group record," she said, impressed.

"And utterly missed the point of the exercise."

"Are you going to drop her?"

Tseng was silent for a moment. Were it up to him... he would _absolutely_ drop her from consideration. At least for the _current_ promotion. She simply wasn't ready, in his opinion. Skilled, certainly, with a great deal of potential... but lacking in some very important areas.

As it stood, however... he wasn't the deciding vote this time around.

"It's Reno's decision, not mine... Whomever he picks is going to be his first. It's as much a test for him as it is for the recruit, and I can't choose for him. But I do plan to strongly _suggest_ that he focus his attention on one of the others," he replied as the others at last opted to work together to free themselves and exit the room behind their overachieving cohort.

"... Do _you_ want to tell her she failed, or shall I?" Viridia asked with smirk. Tseng chuckled and turned to the door.

"I've seen all I need to. You can tell her. You seem far more eager than I to impress upon her where she went wrong. And then, if you're not too busy... perhaps you'd be good enough to join me for dinner tonight?"

" _Just_ dinner?" the lieutenant commander teased.

"Dinner... and dessert?" he offered, smiling.

"Is that your way of telling me you plan on waking up in my quarters tomorrow morning, or do you _actually_ intend to buy me dessert?"

"... Both?" he responded, caught slight off-guard by the question. Tseng sighed softly, and flashed her a self-deprecating smile. "Nearly ten years of being around Reno, and it seems I _still_ haven't quite mastered the proper inflection for decent innuendo."

Viridia laughed.

"I wouldn't have you any other way, Tseng," she replied, heading for the door that would take her down to the evaluation floor, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some spirits to crush. I'll see you as soon as I'm off duty... for 'dessert'."

~fin~


	37. Scene 37

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 37**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene Notes:**_ _Reno kept a close eye on Elena before she was officially a Turk. This is the first time they met... though Elena doesn't even remember it._

 _From Chapter 38: Restoration:_

" _Lucky he was there... or you might not have walked away from that."_

" _Oh, it wasn't luck," Reno chuckled, "He was watchin' me. Not constant surveillance or anything... but when he had the time to do it, he was keepin' tabs on me. Tseng was pretty sure he wanted me for the Turks right from the start... but I was just a kid. Wasn't ready. He didn't want to lose track of his potential new recruit, though, before he got around to actually recruiting him. I kinda got the feelin' that might not've been the first time he'd saved my ass, either."_

" _That's almost creepy..." Elena giggled._

" _Tch... no it's not. I watched you for months."_

" _W-what?"_

" _Yeah... Soon as Tseng told me I could have a rookie, I started goin' through the candidates in the recruitment program. Had it narrowed down to five or so, and started keepin' an eye on 'em... during training and outside of training. Eventually, I was only watchin' you."_

* * *

Reno yawned and made his way into the park. It was too motherfucking early for his taste. And too damn cold, too. He dragged the hood of his sweatshirt up over his head and shoved his hands into his pockets before plopping his ass down on a nearby bench. His fingers closed around his half-empty pack of cigarettes and he pulled one free, placing it between his lips before digging a little deeper for his lighter.

Five fucking thirty. He hadn't even had time for breakfast. He bit back another yawn and lit the cigarette, taking a long drag off of it and exhaling a cloud of smoke into the chilly air. It was gonna be one hell of a cold Halloween this year if the current trends kept up. Though on the bright side, that might _also_ mean an early snow... and the redhead absolutely _loved_ it when it snowed in Midgar.

He flicked the ash on the ground and yawned again, wishing he hadn't stayed up so damn late last night when he'd known damn well that he had an early morning. This was his first chance at getting an up close look at one of his choices for a new rookie... outside of hiding in the shadows at the recruit training facility, that is. And this one, in particular, was of special interest to him.

He had it narrowed down to five... and now he was just beginning the process of whittling that number down even farther. Tseng had advised him to observe only... not to actively engage without a good reason. Technically, they weren't even supposed to know they were being considered for promotion yet, after all. But the redhead had his own way of doing things. It wasn't long before the sound of rapid footfalls on the concrete pathway reached his ears, and Reno grinned to himself as he subtly glanced in its direction.

She really was a _little_ thing up close, he mused as she approached. Couldn't have been over five and a half feet... and that was being generous. Alert, honey-brown eyes spotted him almost immediately as she rounded the corner, and just as quickly refocused on the path ahead of her... though he wasn't sure if that was because she'd decided that he wasn't a threat, or if she'd simply opted to avoid eye contact because his presence in so isolated an area made her nervous.

He smirked and set the cigarette back between his lips, inhaling deeply... and waited. Just as she reached him, he exhaled, enveloping her in a cloud of smoke.

"Ugh!" she muttered, coughing, and waved it away from her face with a disgusted look before glaring at him and continuing on.

Reno snickered quietly to himself as he watched her go. Well... she was definitely the non-confrontational type... but judging by the look she'd shot him, she was more than a little willful in spite of it. There were pros and cons to that.

He studied her as she glanced back in his direction, as though to make sure he hadn't decided to follow her. Not complacent enough to assume that he _wouldn't_. That was good.

She also had a seriously nice ass. That was good, too... though for entirely unrelated reasons. If she _didn't_ end up being his top pick, he was definitely going to consider hooking up with her at some point. For some reason, though... he had a good feeling about this one already. Which unfortunately for his sex life, might put her off limits for the foreseeable future. Sleeping with one's protégé was... not _explicitly_ forbidden... but somewhat frowned upon, even among the Turks. And besides which... this wasn't something he wanted to risk screwing up for a quick fuck.

Reno stubbed out the cigarette on the edge of the bench and flicked the butt into the bushes behind him. One down... four to go. He just hoped the next recruit on his list wasn't such a fucking earlybird.

~fin~


	38. Scene 38

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 38**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene Notes:**_ _We all know Reno has been arrested at least nine times since he moved from the Slums to the Plate (for setting off an explosive in his apartment, for joyriding in Tseng's car, during an unfortunate encounter with a date's father who happened to be a cop, and while running away naked from a one night stand's none-to-happy fiance). Four down... five to go._

* * *

"Alright. In you go."

Reno growled in annoyance as the officer escorting him gestured to the small cell in front of him. The redhead begrudgingly stepped inside, and the barred door shut behind him with a loud, metallic slam.

"You're gonna be sorry when you find out who I am," he muttered angrily. Though... it was kind of was his own fault for heading out without his company ID. At sixteen... and still easily mistaken for someone younger... he should have known better than to expect anyone to actually believe him when he told them he was a Turk. Particularly given that he'd been drinking at the time. Tseng had warned him that the bars topside weren't as lenient as the ones in the slums... but the Wutaiian son of a bitch hadn't said a damn thing about the liquor stores!

Though, in retrospect, that _probably_ should have been obvious...

"Oh, really?" the officer replied. "Something tells me, _you're_ the one who's 'gonna be sorry'... when I get ahold of your _parents_. Now... are you going to give me their number, or are we going to do this the hard way?"

Reno folded his arms over his chest and scowled.

"Suit yourself. Just means you're going to be in there even longer while I run your prints," the man said with a shrug, and turned on his heel, striding back down the hallway.

"H-hey! You can't just fuckin' leave me here! Don't I get a damn phone call?!" he called after him. That's what he'd always seen on TV, anyway. He'd sort of been counting on it, actually... If he could just get ahold of Rude, his new friend would _definitely_ come get him. He could be out of here, home before curfew, and Tseng would never know. Hopefully...

"Soon as you're sober," the officer responded, not bothering to turn back.

"I'm not drunk, goddammit!" Reno retorted, but by then he'd already slipped through the door at the end of the hallway and back into the station. The redhead groaned. "Well, _that's_ just fuckin' terrific..."

All he'd had was half a beer and a few hits from a bottle of vodka. Sure, he'd rather stupidly been drinking it while waiting in line to pay for it – hence the call to the cops – but he most certainly wasn't _drunk_. Not even close.

Tseng was gonna kill him when he found out about this.

With a sigh, Reno took a seat on the uncomfortable little bench that was attached to the wall. No... Tseng wasn't gonna kill him. He was just gonna put him on the first train back to the Sector Two slums. For Ifrit's sake, the redhead hadn't even been a Turk a full two weeks yet, and he was already sitting in a fucking jail cell. The Turk lieutenant had even told him, explicitly, within hours of bringing him up, that if this happened he wasn't going to be happy about it.

Reno had gotten the biggest break of his miserable, worthless little life, and he'd just fucked it up for some cheap booze. As the full weight of that reality settled on him, he felt his stomach turn. He didn't want to go back. Sure... he didn't _have_ to stay in Sector Two... but the slums were the slums, no matter which of them he moved to. He hated it down below. Especially now, after seeing what he could have up here on the Plate.

The sixteen year old Turk pulled his legs up onto the bench and hugged his knees to his chest, burying his face against his arms. He was so _fucking_ stupid! Tears of anger, fear, and frustration prickled at the corners of his eyes, and he willed them back. He was _not_ going to cry over this. He'd found a way to live down below before... he could do it again. It wasn't the end of the world.

… It was just the end of his dream to get out of there and never go back, that was all. Because he had no illusions that he was _ever_ going to get a second chance at escape from that hellhole.

A quiet sob finally escaped his lips.

* * *

Tseng stepped into the police substation in Sector One, half expecting his new charge to be waiting defiantly at the door for him. Likely in handcuffs, but still... He approached the desk just inside where an officer was seated, shuffling through a pile of paperwork.

"I was notified that my ward is in custody," he stated, doing his best to keep the extreme irritation he felt out of his voice. After all, it wasn't local law enforcement's fault that his rookie had decided to ignore his warning and go out drinking. No... The blame for _that_ lay squarely on _Reno's_ shoulder... and the little redhead was going to bear the full brunt of Tseng's displeasure just as soon as they got home.

The officer looked up, setting the folders aside.

"Redhead? Arrested for underage drinking?"

"That would be him, I'm afraid," the Turk sighed. The man nodded and turned toward the squad room.

"Hey, Parkins! The kid's guardian is here!"

An older police officer made his way to the front, holding out his hand in greeting. Tseng shook it, and followed him to his desk.

"How much trouble has he caused?" he asked. The officer chuckled slightly.

"To be honest... I wish all my arrests went so easy. He's a nice kid. Little bit of a mouth on him, but... that's pretty normal for a teenage boy."

Tseng resisted the urge to sigh in relief. At least he wasn't going to be dealing with assault charges, or something equally as problematic.

"Now then... it's a three hundred and fifty gil fine. He can appeal it if he wants to... but just so you know, I make it a special point to show up for underage drinking cases, and he's on camera at the store where he was arrested."

"Oh... he'll _pay_ the fine," Tseng stated, with a note of finality. "Every last gil of it."

That would be most of Reno's first paycheck... which he would be receiving tomorrow. Or, rather, _not_ receiving tomorrow, as the case may be, given that it was now already spent.

"So... I gotta ask. Kid tried claiming he was a Turk when I picked him up. Didn't believe him, of course. He's just a kid. Then I ran his prints and they come back as not only a Shinra employee but a ward of the company, and I got to wondering. Is he... really?"

Tseng smirked slightly. At least Reno would be learning a lesson tonight about carrying his credentials with him whether he was on duty or not. "He... _will_ be. Assuming I can survive his training with my sanity in tact... May I have him back now?"

"Oh, right... of course. This way," the officer replied, shaking his head... likely at the thought of having just arrested a Turk and lived to tell the tale. Tseng followed him into the cell block at the back of the station, and moments later found himself standing in front of a small cell containing one rather miserable-looking redhead. The Turk Second folded his arms over his chest and stared him down.

"Well? What do you have to say for yourself?"

The rookie swallowed sharply and almost immediately dropped his gaze to the floor. Tseng rolled his eyes. The officer unlocked the cell, releasing him to his mentor's custody.

"Let's go, Reno," Tseng said, sternly, and placed a hand between the teenager's shoulder blades, guiding him down the hall.

* * *

The drive back to his apartment was short and spent in silence. Reno, for his part, barely even moved, save to fasten his seatbelt. Tseng parked out front and ushered the young man inside. When he gestured for him to take a seat on the couch, the redhead nervously complied.

"I'm quite certain I warned you that there would be consequences if you did something foolish enough to force me to come and retrieve you from a prison cell..." he began, "And I believe I _also_ warned you that the rules regarding the legal drinking age in the slums... or more specifically, the lack thereof... do _not_ apply on the Plate."

Reno seemed to shrink in on himself.

"I trust you're prepared for those consequences?" the Turk lieutenant added.

"... Yes, sir," his rookie said, remorse more than apparent in his voice. He dared a glance up at the older Turk, uncertainly. "C-can I at least stay the night?"

Tseng blinked in surprise at the request, not following the teenager's train of thought.

"What in Leviathan's name are you talking about?" he asked, confused. He shook his head and sighed. "Nevermind... You're restricted to the apartment this weekend. Which is just as well, given that you will have no money for any of the activities you may have been planning anyway. Your first paycheck will be going to pay your fine. And... just because I'm extraordinarily annoyed with you and know how much you dislike getting up early... we'll be heading into the office at _five_ tomorrow morning for some extra sparring sessions and a mile run."

He suddenly realized that Reno was looking up at him, thoroughly mystified.

"You're... not gonna send me back to Sector Two?"

"Of course I'm not," Tseng replied, his tone softening slightly, and the redhead's shoulders sagged in relief. "Reno... one, admittedly irritating, but relatively trivial infraction is hardly enough to warrant your dismissal." He gently placed a finger under his chin and lifted head so that he was looking at him again, and was more than slightly concerned by the amount of uncertainty he saw in the teenager's eyes. "... though perhaps I should have made that a bit more clear."

The next thing Tseng knew, his rookie had thrown his arms around him, hugging him tightly. The older Turk tensed as his rookie unexpectedly attached himself to him, awkwardly patting Reno's back. It was right about then that Tseng realized, for the first time, that with a rookie as young as the one he'd chosen... he was going to have to be a bit more than _just_ a mentor.

~fin~


	39. Scene 39

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 39**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene Notes:**_ _Arrest number six takes place not too long after Reno had been forced out of his first apartment (and arrested) due to the use of explosives._

* * *

"... So are you gonna tell me?" Rude asked, pulling into the parking lot of Reno's new place. The redhead had been sulking the entire way home.

"Are _you_ gonna tell Tseng?" he responded, and his fellow rookie snickered.

"That your way of asking me _not_ to?"

"... Come on up. After the night I had, I need a drink before I start in on the play by play..." the redhead said with a sigh. He shoved open the door to the truck and hopped out. Rude grinned and did the same, following him into the building. His friend was stubbornly silent as they boarded the elevator and road it up to the fifth floor, and remained so as he ushered him inside.

"You want a beer?" Reno finally asked, walking into his kitchenette and opening up the fridge.

"I _want_ to know why I had to come bail you out of jail at eight 'o clock on a Friday night. You haven't even had time to get drunk yet. Quit stalling."

Reno extracted a bottle for himself and popped it open, downing about half of its contents and wiping his mouth on the back of his hand as he leaned back against the appliance.

"... So... you know how Tseng keeps sayin' I need to work on tailin' people... right?"

"Yeah..."

"I've... ya know... kinda been practicing. On my own time."

"Tailing who?" Rude asked, curious now. The redhead shrugged.

"Just... anyone. I pick someone, follow 'em for awhile, and try not to let 'em see me."

Rude smirked. He had a sneaking suspicion _this_ was going to be good. He shooed his friend out of the way and opened the fridge, helping himself to the previously offered beer.

"And?"

Reno rolled his eyes. "And... tonight I decided to tail this really fuckin' hot-as-shit brunette. Followed her for about two blocks... annnnd walked straight into her boyfriend. Who was about three times my size and not real thrilled by the idea of some little punk stalkin' his lady."

Rude choked on the sip he'd just taken, laughing.

"You're lucky he just had you arrested. Sounds like you _could've_ ended up wrapped around a streetlight."

"Oh, no... _He_ didn't call the cops. _He_ tried to wrap me around a streetlight. Lucky for me, I was a hell of a lot faster than he was. I took off outta there like a fuckin' chocobo on speed."

One eyebrow shot up from behind his sunglasses. "Then how'd you end up getting arrested?"

"I'm gettin' there..." Reno replied and took another swig of his beer. "So I was runnin' like hell down the street with this massive asshole chasin' me, and his smokin' hot girlfriend chasin' _him_ , and I knew if I didn't shake 'em pretty quick I was gonna be in a shitload of trouble. So I ran down an alley to the next block and ducked into this little materia shop 'n waited for 'em to run past."

"... And they saw you?"

"Nah... they were runnin' full tilt down the block screamin' like idiots," the redhead said grinning. "Never saw 'em again after that."

Rude shook his head, confused. "Then _why_ did you get arrested?"

"Quit interruptin' and you'll find out," he shot back. "So there I am... hidin' out behind this big ass rack of materia spheres, watchin' these lunatics run by... when the shop owner sneaks up behind me. Scares the _shit_ outta me. So... ya know... I reacted like _any_ Turk would."

"You shot him?" Rude teased. Reno glared at him.

"Her. And no. I took her to the floor 'n pinned her, you fuckin' psychopath."

"And she had you arrested for assault."

"No."

"But..."

"I'm _gettin'_ there!" Reno reiterated. "Anyway... I've got this poor woman on the floor and I suddenly realize who she is... So I just start apologizin' profusely, tryin' to explain why I'm a complete asshole and askin' if there's anything I can do to make it up to her. She was _actually_ real nice about it in the end... asked me to give her a hand movin' some shit outta the back room, and we called things even. Then I left, figurin' I'd try 'n salvage what was left of the evening, so I started headin' for the Phoenix Nest for a drink..."

Rude shook his head. "Well, you're sober _and_ you're still in one piece... so I guess that rules out a bar fight."

"... Yeah. I didn't make it to the bar," the younger Turk replied, awkwardly scratching the back of his head. "I... was a block away, crossin' the street, when some asshat damn near runs me down... so I swore at him and slammed my hand down on the hood of his car. His... uh... patrol car." Reno sighed and hung his head in shame. "I basically got arrested for jaywalkin'."

Rude stared at him, incredulously, for a moment, and started to laugh.

He was _still_ laughing several minutes later, after his friend shoved him out the door and slammed it behind him.

~fin~


	40. Scene 40

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 40**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene Notes:**_ _Because people keep asking for this... :)_

 _This takes place sometime in Reno's first month or so as a Turk. Rufus would have been about 17 at the time, and not yet named Vice President of the company._

 _From Chapter 30: Wedding Bells:_

" _Almost a day and a half with nothin' to eat? No wonder you're hungry..." the redhead commented as they carried their plates to an open table. "I'd've passed out by now."_

" _It's not that bad," Elena snickered, as Reno took her plate, setting them both in front of their seats, before pulling her chair out for her._

" _Maybe not for you..." he said, flashing her a smile and pushing her chair in behind her. He sat down beside her and grabbed a fork trying to decide where to start. It all looked good._

" _Wait... you're serious?"_

" _Mmmhmm..." he managed, having singled out the very tasty-looking breaded chicken as a starting point. He swallowed the first bite and speared a second. "Why do you think can I eat so much and never gain anything? I've got a ridiculously high metabolism... plus there's also trainin' and missions and whatever else Tseng throws at me. According to Ward, I burn through calories about three times faster than most people. Probably not quite so much when I'm off duty, but, yeah... when I don't eat, it's kind of a big deal for me."_

* * *

He couldn't eat when he was nervous. He just _couldn't_. It made him feel queasy as hell for the rest of day if he tried. Of course _not_ eating had its downsides, too... but a little light-headedness was preferable to feeling like he was going to puke.

And he certainly had a reason to be nervous today. Tseng was taking him with him to Junon... as part of the fucking _President's_ security detail. That was... _kind of_ a big deal. Reno had never even met the President before... not officially. Sure, there had been that stupid corporate function he'd had to go to not so long ago, but President Shinra hadn't said two words to him that night. Tseng hadn't even introduced them. This was the boss of his boss' boss' boss they were talking about. From what he'd heard, rookies didn't typically get handed an assignment like this until they had a _lot_ more training under their belts.

And that was why he was so nervous that he'd skipped dinner last night... and breakfast this morning. Though, he sort of hoped that lunch wasn't going to be on the chopping block, too. One or two meals, he could do without... but more than that, and he knew he'd start feeling fairly shitty. He tried never to let it go _that_ far, though.

And it probably didn't help that he seemed to be hungrier than ever, lately. All that training Tseng put him through would work up an appetite for just anyone, but it made _Reno_ utterly ravenous by mealtimes. Dr. Ward had seemed a little shocked by it when he'd gone to see her a few days ago – at his mentor's insistence, though frankly he hadn't really seen the need – after a minor accident in the training room. The damn woman had insisted on checking him over from head to toe after she'd finished with his stitches, and had clucked her tongue disapprovingly when she'd discovered that he'd lost six pounds since she'd last seen him.

She'd demanded to know how he'd been eating lately.

The redhead had dutifully listed off everything he'd eaten that day, smirking as her eyes had widened as the list went on... and on, and on. The visit had ended with her telling him that she'd be informing Tseng of mandatory appointments every Friday until they managed to get his weight loss under control. He'd groaned and whined and even swore in protest – which lost him his coveted candy for that visit – but she'd insisted, and he'd had little choice but to give in and promise to be there on Friday. Then she'd sent him off to the cafeteria for lunch.

Today, though... food was the farthest thing from his mind. Or at least it would have been had it not been for the gnawing sensation in his belly, and the slightly dizzy feeling that assailed him as he and Tseng rode the elevator up to the rooftop helipad. As they arrived, Reno spotted President Shinra already boarding the executive helicopter with Veld.

"It should go without saying that you're to behave professionally for the duration of this trip," Tseng stated, as they made their way across the roof.

"Yes, sir," the redhead replied.

"I should also tell you that there has been a last minute change. You will not be joining me on the President's detail. At least not until later today."

"Sir?"

"The President's son, Rufus, has been invited along for the afternoon tour of the base. He has, however, opted _not_ to accompany his father to greet the new army recruits." The older Turk smirked slightly. "Frankly, I don't blame him. His father is notoriously long-winded. You'll be keeping an eye on him during the welcoming speech."

"So... basically, I'm babysitting. _Great_..."

Tseng chuckled softly before they boarded the aircraft. "Reno... that is _essentially_ what _any_ security detail is, no matter whom you happen to be guarding."

Reno gave a sharp laugh and followed him through the doorway, into the back of the helicopter, and took a seat beside him. Across from the pair of Turks sat the President, flanked on either side by Veld, and a blonde-haired teenager with a decidedly snobbish expression on his face. He glanced over at the rookie with a distinct look of disdain, but said nothing... merely folded his arms over his chest and turned his gaze toward the window to his right.

* * *

 _'How much_ _ **longer**_ _?'_ Reno silently lamented. Tseng had been gone more than two hours now... and in that time the rookie had been subjected to very close to his limit of condescension and snark. The little bastard really _was_ on his last damn nerve.

It had started out bad... and gotten progressively worse. And the fact that he was absolutely starving didn't make it any easier to deal with. Worse, he'd made the fatal mistake of letting it slip that Tseng had recruited him from the Slums... and since then, the Shinra heir had never once used his name. Reno had been dubbed the 'Slum Rat', and the look of glee in the other boy's eyes every time he said it and Reno was forced to bite his tongue was nothing short of maddening. If it hadn't been for the fact that he was supposed to be guarding the brat, he'd have been sorely tempted to punch him in that smug, snotnosed face of his. In fact, it was only the knowledge that doing so would deeply disappoint his mentor that had actually stopped him after the last comment the little shit had made.

Without warning, Rufus suddenly stood and started towards the door of his father's office.

"And just where are _you_ goin'?" the redhead demanded. Rufus raised an eyebrow in challenge, and the rookie grudgingly tacked on a ground-out "Sir?" to that query. The blonde boy snorted haughtily.

"For a walk. I'm bored." He turned on his heel and strode out before Reno could even get to his feet. The Turk quickly stood and went to follow, shaking his head as the room spun momentarily. _That_ wasn't good. Skipping breakfast was starting to seem like a bad idea... particularly given that lunch was still a couple hours away. He ignored the minor vertigo and hurried to catch up to his charge, following him down the hall to the elevator and stepping aboard with him.

As the elevator reached the first floor and the doors slid open, Rufus looked back at him with a smirk... and vanished. It took Reno a moment to register that the other teen had taken off at a dead run, and by the time the redhead's initial shock had passed and he was in pursuit, Rufus had already darted through the doors at the end of the concourse.

"What the hell!?" he yelled after him as the door began to swing back. The Turk shoved his way through it before it could close, eyes scanning for his charge. He wasn't hard to spot... but he had a hell of a head start on him. Reno growled and sprinted after him.

Rufus was quick, the rookie had to give him that. But Reno was quicker. It didn't take him long to catch up. It wouldn't have mattered, however. Rufus suddenly found himself at a dead end. Apparently realizing that he was outmatched in terms of speed, as well as effectively cornered, the Shinra heir calmly folded his arms over his chest and watched as the redhead stormed up to him.

"What the _hell_ was _that_ all about?!" Reno demanded, struggling slightly to catch his breath. Rufus snorted.

"Just trying to figure out what it is Tseng sees in a slum rat like you," he replied. The redhead glared at him.

"Well, quit tryin' to make me look like an idiot!"

"You don't need _my_ help with _that_ , believe me" Rufus responded, snidely.

"The fuck's your problem, anyway?" the rookie queried, eying the little brat with suspicion. Reno had spent years of his young life learning to read people. It was the only way a kid like him stood a chance on his own in Sector 2. And it hadn't slipped his notice that it was "what _Tseng_ saw in him"... not what the Turks or Shinra or even Veld saw in him.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, a tidbit of information pulled itself out of his memory. Tseng had been solely in charge of Rufus' security for years. He remembered Rude saying something about it a week or two ago... that it was a little unusual for a Turk to be exclusively assigned to someone. Even the President's son. He'd mentioned that he was working on finding out the whole story... because surely there had to be a story there.

"At the moment? _You_ are my problem. You annoy me."

"Tch... What'd I ever do to _you_?" Reno asked, following his charge as he made his way back towards the administration building. They'd actually covered a lot more ground during the brief chase than the Turk had realized. Maybe a little _too_ much, judging by the woozy feeling that had suddenly come over him.

Rufus turned glanced back at him and smirked. "What's the matter? Is being a Turk just too difficult for the little baby slum rat?" he laughed, coldly, "Go home and cry to Mommy."

That was his breaking point. He'd largely let Rufus' insults and sneers roll off him until that. After all, most of it wasn't anything he hadn't heard a thousand times down in the slums, anyway. He'd even managed to maintain at least _some_ level of professionalism through it all... a few minor slip-ups during their little chase aside. But _that_ was crossing a line.

"Well, I would, but she's dead," Reno replied, equally as cold, openly glaring at the other boy's back. He started forward, intent on offering Rufus a little glimpse at how just intimidating the rookie could be if he put his mind to it... but stumbled and caught himself against the wall of the building, just as Rufus stopped short and turned back to face him. Whatever the other teen might have said was lost as Reno's vision swam and darkened. It was accompanied by a loud ringing in his ears. He had to sit down. If he didn't, he was going to fall down. He was dimly aware of a voice speaking to him, but at the moment, it focus was on the more immediate problem... specifically, not passing out.

This had happened to him several times when he was younger... always when he was short on food. But it had been ages since the last time it was _this_ bad. Though... it made sense, in a way. Lunch yesterday had been early in order to accommodate an extended block of training in the afternoon. He'd skipped dinner out of sheer nervousness after Tseng had given his assignment for the day following. Then he'd skipped breakfast that morning. And now he'd just run a brief marathon across half of Junon, chasing down the President's obnoxious little spawn. Whatever he might have had in reserve after so long without food was long gone.

After a few moments, the ringing in his ears subsided, and his vision cleared... and much to his chagrin, he found himself face to face with the pain in the ass Shinra heir. For a very brief moment, the rookie even imagined that Rufus was looking at him with an expression of concern. As his head cleared, however, he quickly recognized it as disdain.

"Pathetic. _This_ is what passes for a Turk these days? A light jog and you're practically falling over..."

Reno felt an unwelcome heat rising in his cheeks as he staggered upright. "I haven't eaten in... _awhile_ ," he muttered, embarrassed. Wonderful. He probably couldn't have made a worse first impression if he'd tried. And when Tseng found out about this...

Rufus snorted in contempt and turned on his heel, marching back toward the administration building. The pair boarded the elevator in silence and returned to the President's office. Somewhat to Reno's surprise, Tseng and Veld were there waiting for him, along with the President himself.

"Ah... Rufus. There you are. Are you ready for the tour?" President Shinra asked. Rufus strolled past the two senior Turks, presenting himself in front of his father.

"... No. I'm hungry, Father. Let's have an early lunch first," he replied in a somewhat dismissive tone.

* * *

"Reno?" Tseng's voice prodded him, and the redhead turned away from the view out the car window as they drove home later that evening. "You've been unusually quiet since we returned. Is something on your mind?"

There was _plenty_ on his mind. Why, for instance, had Rufus insisted on inviting the three Turks to _join_ him and his father for lunch? A lunch which the Shinra heir had only picked at, himself. And why hadn't he mentioned any of what had transpired between the two of them to Tseng or Veld? And why had he been just as openly insulting of the redhead for the remainder of the afternoon, but never once ventured to again the press the one subject he _knew_ would get a reaction from him?

It was almost like the little fucker had just been toying with him all morning... until things got a little too serious for his taste.

The redhead finally shrugged and Tseng chuckled softly.

"Ah. I know _that_ look all too well. You're trying to figure Rufus out," he stated.

"What's that asshole's deal, anyway?" he asked, letting the lid off of some of the irritation he still felt after their day in Junon. Tseng shook his head and laughed.

"I believe I'll let you draw your own conclusions on that subject," he said, smiling faintly.

~fin~


	41. Scene 41

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 41**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene Notes:**_ _Scenes from Reno and Elena's honeymoon._

… _not_ _ **those**_ _kinds of scenes. Get your mind out of the gutter._

 _Also... the site has been having some issues sending out chapter update emails for the last week or so, so if you haven't been checking for updates on the site itself, you may have missed a few chapters of this story._

* * *

 _ **Day One...**_

Elena beamed as her new husband helped her down from the helicopter and out into the hot, late morning sunshine. He laughed and lifted her into his arms.

"Ya know... that poor pilot's gonna be traumatized for life," he said, grinning. Elena giggled.

"And who's fault is that?" she retorted. "By the way... I expect you to _finish_ what you started in there..."

"What? Right now?" the redhead asked, feigning a scandalized expression. "... _'Lena_! … Well, if you _insist_..."

She leaned in an kissed him. "Pervert."

"Heh... Look who's talkin'. Last night after the reception wasn't enough for you?"

"Not even close," she whispered in his ear. "Now put me down. The sooner we get checked in, the sooner we can pick things up where we left off..."

He spun twice with her in his arms before depositing her on the concrete walkway that led down towards the Costa del Sol docks, and then turned back to retrieve their luggage. Elena laughed and pulled one of the bags from his hands, draping the strap over her shoulder and heading into the resort town.

A warm breeze blew in from the ocean, alleviating the growing heat of the day somewhat, and Elena sighed in contentment. Costa del Sol _always_ seemed to be the most beautiful place in the world. Bright tropical flowers bloomed on vines that curled their way up twin trellises holding up a wooden sign welcoming guests to the resort, and still more strange but lovely plants lined the stone walkway leading to the concierge desk inside the stucco-walled building tucked back into a grove of palm trees. Reno slipped out in front of her and opened the door for her with a – somewhat awkward, owing to the luggage he was still juggling – bow, before following her inside.

They were immediately greeted by the resort staff, who took their bags and presented them with some kind of chilled fruit juice that Elena couldn't quite identify in fluted glasses.

"Checking in?" the woman at the desk inquired, and Reno nodded.

"Mr. and _Mrs._ Reno Donovan," he confirmed, grinning widely. The woman made a quick check of the reservation system and smiled.

"Ah, yes... Here we are. Reservation for two in our honeymoon suite," she replied. Her smile widened. "Congratulations. And I have a note here to inform you that you've been upgraded to one of our deluxe bungalows on the beach as a surprise wedding gift from a friend who wishes to remain anonymous."

Elena giggled as they were led away to their room. "Who do you think it was? Tseng? Or Rude?" she asked, turning to her husband, but Reno shook his head.

"Rufus," he said, decidedly, smirking. "Rude wouldn't have sent an _anonymous_ anything 'cause he knows how paranoid I can be, and Tseng's too practical to think of somethin' like that." He grinned. "Rufus, on the other hand..."

She laughed softly and cuddled up to him. "You're right... It had to be Rufus. That was sweet of him."

"Well... Since he's bein' so generous, I think we oughta put it to good use. Right now. For several hours."

* * *

 _ **Day Two...**_

Elena woke to the sound of waves and the faint scent of salt breeze as it ghosted across her naked skin. It was followed by the gentle caress of fingertips on her shoulder. She smiled as her eyes fluttered open and she found herself looking directly into Reno's. The redhead smiled and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead.

"Mornin', beautiful..." he said, as he brushed back her hair. She stretched slightly and propped herself up on one elbow.

"Mornin' yourself... What time is it?" she asked, and Reno shrugged.

"Didn't look. Don't care. Doesn't matter."

Elena snickered and trailed a hand along his cheek, and suddenly realized that her husband... who generally had to be physically _dragged_ out of bed before ten o'clock if he didn't have anywhere to be... was dressed in teal beach shorts and a loose-fitting white shirt that was open in the front, revealing a tempting view of his chest. He was lying next to her on top of the sheets. Her surprise must have registered in her face, because his grin quickly widened.

"I've been up since sunrise," he said without being prompted for an explanation.

"I'd have thought I wore you out last night," his wife teased, and the redhead gave her a decidedly lewd look.

"Oh, trust me... you _did_. Lucky for you, I recover fast. I wanted to make sure breakfast would be here when you woke up," he said, and then smirked, "Wasn't countin' on you sleepin' in 'til _lunch_."

She rolled her eyes and rolled over, casting a quick glance at the clock on the far wall. It was only eight thirty.

"Lunch, huh?" she laughed, sitting up in bed and reaching for the soft, gossamer-thin coverup she'd bought specifically for lounging around in the morning after a long night of love making. Reno's eyes roved over her body for a moment, appreciatively, as she slipped it on. "So... what's for breakfast?"

"... More sex?" he suggested and Elena couldn't help but giggle.

"You have a one-track mind, Reno..."

"Yeah... but you knew _that_ before you married me, so don't act like you're shocked by it," he grinned. The redhead got up and walked around to her side of the bed, and lifted her into his arms, carrying her across the room and out through the French doors that led to the little veranda outside.

" _Reno!_ " she said in a loud whisper, " _I'm half naked!_ "

He set her down and pulled out a chair for her at the small table.

" _I'd_ prefer you completely naked," he shot back with a wink, "... 'Sides... Look around. We got plenty of privacy out here."

It was true, she realized. Their little bungalow was off on its own, sheltered by the tropical jungle and largely hidden from prying eyes. Through a small opening in the trees, she could see the beach and the bright blue water. From farther off, she could hear music playing, but few people seemed to venture close enough to their hideaway to catch sight of the couple.

There was a loud pop next to her, and she shifted her attention back to Reno, who had just opened a bottle of champagne. Elena snickered softly.

"Don't you think it's just a _little_ early to start drinking?" she teased, as he filled her glass a little over halfway.

"Nope," he responded, and filled the remaining space with orange juice from a nearby pitcher. "Never too early for mimosas on the beach..."

"You know... It's _nice_ having my own personal bartender," Elena giggled and reached for the glass, taking a sip. It was sweet and citrusy and cold... and she had to admit, it _was_ a lovely way to start the morning.

"Heh... Knew you married me for more than just my body..."

"Oh, no. I totally married you for your body. This is just an extra perk," she joked. Reno snickered and lifted the cover off of a wide platter, revealing a huge assortment of fruits. He selected a slice of mango, and held it out for her to bite. Elena giggled and took it from his fingers with her teeth, nipping lightly as his fingertip as she did so. The fruit was sweet and tart and delicious.

"Are you going to hand feed me at _every_ meal?" she asked, grinning.

"'Lena... I will do _literally_ anything you want me to while we're here," Reno replied, "All you gotta do is ask."

* * *

 _ **Day Three...**_

"Alright... Out of the water!" Elena called from slightly farther up the beach. Rena turned and pouted.

"Five more minutes?!"

She waded out into the surf, just as he was making his way back onto the sand, surfboard in tow. Elena giggled.

"You can go right back to surfing. _After_ we bathe you in sunscreen again. I'm _not_ going to let a repeat of our _last_ vacation in Costa del Sol happen on our honeymoon," she replied, taking hold of his arm and leading the redhead back to the umbrella she'd been sitting under, watching him play. Apparently it was something he alwaysdid when he had some time off to spent at the resort town. He'd been a little rusty at first, but Reno had quickly fallen back into the rhythm of riding the waves again.

"Oh, so you're sayin' you _don't_ like the lobster-red and blistered look?"

"No. And I don't want you screaming in agony for the next five days, either," Elena said, and reached into her bag. She'd come prepared. It was the highest SPF, most waterproof, top quality sunscreen she'd been able to find, in the largestsizebottle they made. She'd ordered ten of them... one for each day they'd be there and a few extra just in case. And she'd been slathering him in it any time they left the shelter of their room during the day.

Reno didn't tan in sunlight. He cooked. And the last thing she wanted was for him to end up burned to a crisp halfway through their trip.

She coaxed him down, cross-legged, onto the beach blanket she'd spread out and started on his shoulders, spreading the lotion liberally over his skin. Reno sighed in content at her touch, and let himself relax under her tender ministrations.

"Ya know... this shit works great, but I'm gonna be sweatin' it from every pore by the time we go home," he chuckled, "I'll probably be coconut-scented for the rest of my life."

"Good thing I like coconut, then. And it's better than peeling off a layer of skin from your entire body," Elena teased, and gave the back of his neck a gentle squeeze.

"Good point." He was silent for a few minutes, just sitting and enjoying the attention, and Elena smiled at the sight. She couldn't remember ever seeing him look so happy and knowing that she was responsible for that left her feeling overjoyed. After a while, he peeked one eye open.

"So... You ready to come out there and surf with me yet?"

"O-oh... I don't know..." she began. She was more than happy to watch _him_ have fun in the water, and even join him in the shallows... but truth be told, the ocean still made _her_ a little nervous. She preferred the resort's pool when she wanted a swim.

" _Please?_ " he asked, with a pleading pout. "You're a much better swimmer now... and I won't let anything happen to ya, 'Lena."

She crept around to his front, coating his chest in sunscreen as well. Her hands slid up along the sides of his neck and finally cupped his face as she leaned in and kissed him deeply.

"... I _suppose_ I could give it a try," she finally acquiesced, and her husband grinned madly.

The next thing she knew, she was waist deep in the ocean, clinging somewhat hesitantly to Reno's surfboard as he tried to explain the process.

* * *

 _ **Day Four...**_

Sunset had brought with it a pleasantly cool breeze from offshore, and the beach had come alive with the resort area's nightlife. Steel drum music sang out from one of several shows that had sprung up all along the shore as the light had faded. Beyond that, a small group tumbled and danced while twirling flaming staffs, and farther along still, Elena could make out an impromptu limbo contest being held on the sand.

Her sandals dangled from her fingertips as she and Reno strolled, barefoot and unhurried, along the beach, pausing now and then to watch some of the performers.

"I bet you'd be good at that," she commented offhandedly, as they approached the fire dancers, and the redhead laughed.

"Yeah... no," he sniggered. "I learned my lesson about playin' with fire a _long_ time ago."

"Oh, yay! Story time!" his wife teased, and Reno shook his head, still laughing.

"It's not much of a story. Had some time to kill after a mission, so me 'n Rude decided to chill out here for a day or two. Got drunk and he bet me I couldn't do the whole fire dancin' thing. I _spectacularly_ lost that bet... and then had the Doc yellin' at me when we got home the next day 'cause I couldn't do much of anything to cover up the fact that I didn't have eyebrows."

Elena paused, shaking with laughter, and finally looked him in the eye. "Okay... You are absolutely _not_ doing _that_ , then. I prefer you _with_ eyebrows."

* * *

 _ **Day Five...**_

"... Okay!" he enthusiastically agreed. Reno rolled over on top of her, pinning her beneath his body, and slipped his hands under her, fingers toying with the ties of her bikini top while his lips lavished attention on her throat.

"And just _what_ do you think you're doing?" she asked, trying her best not to laugh.

"You just _said_ you wanted sex on the beach..." he replied, looking up and flashing her a grin.

"I meant the _drink_ , you pervert," Elena said, giggling as she rolled her eyes. "Go get me one."

The redhead leaned closer and captured her lips with his, and she obligingly allowed his tongue to slip past. "You _sure_ you didn't mean it the other way?" he asked when he pulled away. Elena gave him her best seductive smile.

"Kiss me all you want, Reno... but I'm not _nearly_ drunk enough for public sex."

Her husband snickered and lifted himself off of her, easing himself to his feet, intent on fetching his wife the requested cocktail. He turned and started towards the bar... only to pause after a few steps and look back at her.

"Just outta curiosity... how drunk _would_ you have to be?"

"Go get me my drink!" she laughed. Reno gave a dramatic sigh and resumed his march to the bar. Elena sat up on their beach blanket and gazed out at the ocean from the shade of their umbrella. She could hardly imagine a more perfect trip. After a few moments, she realized that she was grinning stupidly, and just staring at the view. She shook her head, and reached for the water bottle in her bag, opening it and taking a long drink. "It _might_ be time to back off on the alcohol a little..." she snickered to herself.

She wasn't drunk quite yet... but she definitely had a pleasant buzz going. She decided that the drink the redhead was bringing her was going to be her last for awhile. At least until dinnertime when she could get some food in her to help counteract some of the alcohol. All-inclusive, she decided, was a wonderful... and dangerous... thing.

"One sex on the beach, for the sexiest woman _on_ the beach," a voice beside her suddenly said, presenting her with the brightly reddish orange-colored cocktail. She laughed and accepted it, taking a sip.

"That was beyond cheesy..." she commented, as Reno took a seat beside her. "And _what_ in Shiva's name is _that_?"

The redhead grinned and held up the glass... which was nearly a foot tall. The drink itself was made up of bands of different colors from red at the bottom, through the entire rainbow, to blue at the top. It was garnished with a a piece of rock candy on a wooden stick.

"Bartender called it a Carbuncle's Rainbow," he replied, "I couldn't resist."

"What's in it?" Elena asked, an eyebrow rising in curiosity.

"Not sure exactly. Secret recipe, so some of the bottles weren't labeled. Vodka, for sure, and every color's a different fruit juice or fruit liqueur, I think. Pretty sure I saw some grenadine go in at one point..." he said, taking a sip from the long straw that accompanied the rock candy skewer. The redhead licked his lips. "Yep. Grenadine. And strawberry liqueur, maybe? There's definitely pineapple in there... Might be some triple sec. Huh... Hey, try this, will ya? Tell me if you taste lemon..."

She snickered softly. "Are... are you trying to figure out the recipe?"

"What? It's a hobby..." he replied, grinning. He turned the straw towards her. "Now, seriously... do you taste lemon?"

Elena obligingly leaned over and sipped at the beverage, and made a face at the overwhelming sweetness. "Oh my god... That's pure sugar and alcohol!"

"Yeah... My kinda drink," the redhead nodded, snickering. "So... Lemon. Yes or no?"

"... Maybe?" she offered. Honestly, she couldn't really distinguish one subtle flavor from all the others that were mixed together in there. Though the pineapple certainly stood out. She shook her head in defeat. "Sorry... I'm not very good at figuring out what's _in_ my drink. I just know which ones I like."

Reno laughed, and leaned in, kissing her, and she could taste hints of the sugary beverage on his lips.

"Mmm... so that's what a rainbow tastes like, huh... ?" she giggled. Reno smirked.

"Guess so. Sure you don't wanna try a little sex on the beach now that you've tasted the rainbow?"

Elena groaned loudly and laughed.

* * *

 _ **Day Six...**_

Birds sang out in the cool shade of tall trees, and something rustled in the underbrush. The island hadn't looked all that big from Costa del Sol. Now that they were here, though... it seemed huge.

She had talked Reno into renting a boat and doing a little exploring... Well, really, she'd talked him into getting up early before all of said boats were gone for the day. Once he was awake, getting him _into_ one hadn't taken much effort at all. She glanced back in the direction they'd come from, and realized they'd lost sight of the beach. She wondered how long until they came out on the other side of the island.

She didn't have to wonder long.

"Oh, wow..." Elena breathed, taking in the sight before her. At the back side of the island was a wide, calm lagoon, separated from the ocean beyond by a narrow sandbank. Palms arched from each side of the crescent-shaped pool, giving the place the appearance of a picture perfect scene from a postcard.

Reno slipped his hand into hers, and they walked down the sandy beach to the water's edge. There wasn't a footprint to be seen. It was like their own private paradise.

"I love you," the redhead whispered, pressing a kiss to the top of her head and wrapping his arms around her. She turned in his embrace and suddenly grinned up at him wickedly.

"You know... Sex on the beach sounds pretty good right about now..." she whispered back. The redhead smirked and feigned innocence.

"I don't think we're gonna find a bar out here, 'Lena."

"I didn't mean the drink."

* * *

 _ **Day Seven...**_

Reno held her close as they swayed to the rhythm of the band playing on the dock. The moon hung brightly in the sky, a perfect white circle, adding to the light of the torches that lit the outdoor dance floor. Elena tucked her head in against her husband's chest and sighed softly. She never wanted this moment to end. It was too perfect.

Tomorrow, they'd be heading back home. Not to Kalm, where they'd been staying temporarily... Not even to the new Shinra offices in Edge or to Junon. Tomorrow, they'd be leaving for Healen Lodge. Rufus had been preparing for the move just days before the wedding, and by now, he and Tseng and Rude would be settling in there.

But that was tomorrow.

Tonight, all she wanted to think about was the amazing, sweet, wonderful man she was lucky enough to be married to. Reno's hand slid from her hip to the small of her back, and she suddenly found herself dipped low as the music reached the end of the song. His lips found hers for a few moments, before he gently pulled her upright again, the last few notes fading into the night.

The next song started... more up-tempo this time... and Elena decided that it was time for a little break. She smiled and tugged the redhead along behind her, leading him off of the dance floor. They settled into one of several hammocks that hung between the palms on the beach. Reno wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her in close.

"Hard to believe it's been a week already, isn't it?"

"Mmhmm..." Elena replied, nuzzling his shoulder. "I wish we could stay longer."

Reno chuckled and raised her hand to his lips, kissing the back of it.

"Well... we could. I mean, as long as you don't mind bein' unemployed."

She laughed and shook her head. "Tempting as it is... I don't know what you'd do once we ran out of money for sunscreen."

"Oh, that's easy. I'd be roasted alive within three hours."

"Guess that means we have to go home," she teased. "Because I'm _not_ going to end up broke, starving, and married to a giant walking sunburn." She lifted her head and kissed him. "Well... not if I don't _have_ to, anyway."

"That mean you'd stay with me even if I _were_ a giant walking sunburn?" the redhead snickered.

"As long as it meant being with you... absolutely. I love you, Reno."

"I never get sick of hearin' you say that."

Elena cuddled against him, snuggling tightly against his side. "I love you," she whispered again.

They sat in silence, for awhile, watching the waves in the moonlight and listening to the music behind them on the dock. Eventually, though, Reno shifted slightly, and Elena looked up again, curious.

"Ready for bed?" her husband asked.

"Don't tell me you want to get to sleep early tonight..." Elena said, somewhat surprised. They'd seldom turned in before midnight the entire time they'd been there. Reno grinned lecherously.

"... Who said _anything_ about sleepin'?"

~fin~


	42. Scene 42

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 42**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene Notes:**_ _Poor Tseng... Raising a teenager isn't easy. Raising a Turk is even harder. Reno has been a Turk for a about a year at this point._

 _From Chapter 33: Crash:_

 _Rude shook his head. "I think she'll get over it pretty quick." He grinned. "She's been working with Reno so long, she ought to be getting used to it by now, anyway..."_

" _Hmm... You_ _ **do**_ _tend to become a bit numb to personal humiliation if you spend enough time with him, don't you?"_

 _Rude raised an eyebrow. "Roller skates," he said, simply._

 _The Turk leader cringed. "You_ _ **both**_ _swore to never speak of that incident again," Tseng replied, feeling his face heat up slightly. The other Turk only chuckled._

* * *

Tseng watched from outside of the rink as his young rookie made another lap, surprisingly graceful as he wove in and out of the other patrons. He grinned widely as he passed the Turk lieutenant with a wave. The Wutaiian Turk shook his head and chuckled. Twenty minutes ago, Reno had never even _seen_ a pair of roller skates, let alone worn them. Now, he looked like he'd been doing it for years.

His gaze shifted to the other rookie. Rude... well, Rude didn't seem to have achieved quite the same level of skill as his friend, but he appeared to be managing just fine. The redhead sped past him, cutting uncomfortably close, and Rude pinwheeled for a moment before regaining control.

"Hey, Boss!" he shouted as he approached his mentor once again, "You gonna join us, or what?"

Tseng sighed and made his way over toward one of the openings in the wall that separated the rink from the observation area. This wasn't going to be pretty. He'd only ever done this once, and that had been years ago. And it _certainly_ hadn't been pretty then. He was _still_ trying to figure out how Reno had talked him into this in the first place.

Apparently, he had a date tomorrow night, and she wanted to go skating. Reno had – rather wisely, in Tseng's opinion – decided that it might not be a terrible idea to learn how to do it first. Somehow, that had translated into the three of them arriving at a popular skating rink in Sector 4 shortly after work to give it a try.

Reno looped around the rink again and this time glided through the gate, coming to a stop next to his mentor, an eager expression on his face.

"Come _on_ , Tseng... What's the hold up?"

The Turk Second flashed him a slightly annoyed look. "Reno... This is _not_ something I've ever been especially good at, and I haven't attempted it in a very long time. I would appreciate a little patience."

"I get any _more_ patient, it'll be time to head home before you get out there..." the redhead snickered, giving him a light shove onto the rink. "Move it!"

He very nearly fell, but managed to catch himself on the wall and glared openly at the teenager as he shot past him with a laugh, beginning another lap. Tseng shook his head and took a moment to get his feet back underneath himself before tentatively gliding away from the wall and joining the current of skaters circling the track.

It wasn't as bad as he remembered. In fact, after a short distance, he finally felt comfortable enough to move out of arms reach of the wall. A blur of red shot past him again, laughing maniacally, and out of curiosity Tseng glanced over his shoulder... only to spot Rude doing his best, though not really accomplishing his goal, to close the distance between them, looking distinctly annoyed. He had no idea what the redhead had done, but clearly his mischievous rookie had found it intensely amusing.

"Ha! 'Bout time," a familiar voice crowed, and a moment later Reno had zipped past him yet again. This time, though, he slowed and spun around, skating backwards directly in front of the senior Turk, a wide grin on his face. "This is awesome, Boss!"

"I'm glad to see you're enjoying yourself," Tseng responded. Reno was about to reply when several things happened in quick succession.

First, a young girl, perhaps seven or eight years old, darted in front of Reno, and the surprised redhead went down, hard. Tseng instinctively tried to avoid him, but the rookie apparently had the very same idea, rolling to his left in a bid to get out of the other man's way... which unfortunately for them both was the same direction Tseng had turned. He only just missed colliding with the younger Turk and falling himself by making a desperate, last minute jump over the redhead's sprawled limbs.

By then, however, he'd lost any semblance of control of his skates and had also picked up some speed in the process. Tseng careened into a large group women who appeared to be paying more attention to their conversation than their surroundings. He mentally groaned, picturing what was about to happen well before it actually did.

Two of the women at the back of the flock gave a surprised yelp as he slammed into them. The collision had a domino effect, and all Tseng could really do was let himself topple along with them. He shut his eyes, anticipating his inevitable impact with the floor. To his immense confusion, it never came. Instead, he found his landing cushioned, his face impacting something soft instead of the unyielding polished wood of the rink.

A moment later, he heard an indignant scream. The Turk sat up, and suddenly realized that he had faceplanted directly into a very well-endowed middle-aged woman's ample bosom. His eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to apologize, only to be silenced by a stinging slap to his cheek... which hit him so hard he collapsed sideways. Face first into the lap of one of the woman's cohorts.

" _PERVERT!_ " someone screamed at him, and the next thing he knew he was caught up in a flurry of shouts and kicks and slaps as at least six more of the womens' friends joined in the fray. He had only one option... and that was retreat.

Tseng somehow managed to get to his knees, and began to crawl toward the nearest point of refuge, dogged the entire time by irate women.

* * *

Rude rolled to a stop next to his fallen comrade, who was watching the spectacle in shock from the floor.

"He's gonna kill you," he stated.

"Yep," Reno replied, unable to take his eyes off of his besieged mentor. Tseng, by then had made if off of the rink and regained his feet, skating unsteadily away from his attackers. He made a beeline for the men's room, disappearing inside, and, judging by the angry shouts of the women pounding on the door, locking himself in.

"Should we go help him?"

"Pretty sure that'd just get me killed sooner."

"... Wanna hit up the bar before you die?"

"Yep."

Rude pulled him to his feet, and the pair quickly skated off, away from the fracas.

~fin~


	43. Scene 43

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 43**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene Notes:**_ _At 26 years old, Reno still doesn't know how to tie a tie... despite multiple attempts on Tseng's part to get him to learn._

 _From Chapter 30: Wedding Bells:_

 _Reno rolled his eyes and stood aside so the man could come in. "Funny, Tseng. Yes, I've already got plans, and no I'm not gonna show up at work on Monday lookin' like this... this is a special-occasion-only sacrifice of my comfort." He paused a moment, then sighed. "Uh... since you're here, though..." He held the tie out to him, imploringly._

 _Tseng chuckled softly, accepting the accessory and looping it around Reno's neck, knotting it with the ease of years of practice._

" _Thanks," Reno grudgingly murmured._

* * *

Reno frowned at his reflection. Even with the suit, he still didn't _look_ much like a Turk... at least not in _his_ opinion. He sighed and did his best to tuck in his shirt before shrugging on the jacket. It really didn't help.

He'd found himself growing intensely nervous the closer it got to time to leave... so much so that he was starting to wish he _hadn't_ scarfed down every crumb of food Tseng had set in front of him earlier. It hadn't even been particularly _good_... though what it lacked in flavor it had certainly made up for in quantity. It was probably the most he'd eaten in one sitting... ever.

Tseng desperately needed some cooking lessons, though.

Now, though, his stomach was as uneasy as _he_ was. Yesterday, he'd thought this was a dream come true. He was leaving the slums... He was working for fucking _Shinra Company_... He even had a place to stay and someone to look after him – which, though he would never in a million year admit it, made him feel a lot more relaxed about being in such strange surroundings.

But today was his first day on the job. And he was terrified.

The redhead reach for the narrow strip of fabric hanging from the corner of the dresser mirror. It was the final part of his new uniform, and he'd saved it for last. With an uncertain glance in the mirror, he looped it around the back of his neck and froze, suddenly realizing that he had absolutely _no_ idea what he was supposed to do from there.

He shrugged. After all, how hard could it be? Half the people on the damn Plate seemed to wear them. It couldn't be _that_ tricky.

* * *

Tseng glanced at his watch. They needed to leave soon, or they'd be late... and that certainly wasn't the first impression he wanted his new rookie to make on his new team. The redhead had disappeared into his bedroom to get dressed almost fifteen minutes ago, and the Turk lieutenant was beginning to wonder just what in Leviathan's name the teen was doing in there.

With a slightly irritated sigh he walked over and tapped on the door.

"Reno? We're going to be late."

The door opened a moment later, revealing a very frustrated looking young man, who forcibly yanked the untied necktie off of himself and held it up, glaring at it petulantly.

"Okay... I fuckin' give up. What's the trick to this?" he growled. Tseng had to try very hard to resist the urge to laugh... and he wasn't quite certain that he was entirely successful in banishing the amused smile that threatened to spread over his face.

"Give it here," he replied, calmly, and the redhead gladly handed the accessory over. Tseng draped it over the teenager's neck. "Under, then over twice, up from behind, then down through the front," he continued, tying the knot as he spoke.

"... Swear I already tried that," the redhead muttered as his mentor gently tighten the loop until the knot rested snugly against his throat. The Wutaiian Turk smiled.

"You can practice later. I'm sure it won't take you long to figure it out. Right now, however, we need to leave for the office."

Reno obediently followed him out to the car, and climbed into the passenger seat, and fidgeting with the tie as he sat down.

"Does it gotta be so fuckin' tight?" he asked when Tseng slid into the driver's seat and started the car. "Feels like I'm bein' strangled..."

"It's meant to be snug, yes," Tseng replied.

"... Do I have to wear it all day?" the redhead asked, hesitantly. This time, Tseng _did_ laugh. The teenager sounded so utterly despondent over the very idea.

"Our dress code is... fairly _lenient_... on such minutia. For today, however, I would prefer you strive to make a good impression. Give yourself some time to get used to it. You may actually end up liking it."

Reno snorted, disbelievingly.

"... Yeah. I doubt it."

Tseng only smiled. He was sure his rookie would warm to the idea eventually.

~fin~


	44. Scene 44

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 44**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene Notes:**_ _During Hell Week, Elena managed to chain Reno to a truck in the parking lot. Rude had to go set him free._

 _From Chapter 16: Hell Week:_

" _Hey, Rude," she replied, "Reno's gonna need you to bring a handcuff key down to the parking deck... Level C. Just follow the swearing."_

" _... Will do."_

" _No hurry, though," she added, glancing out the window at the trapped redhead, who looked like he was trying to glare a hole in the side of her car._

* * *

'Follow the swearing,' she'd said. Elena hadn't been exaggerating, and that simple fact made Rude's already wide grin widen even more. The rookie hadn't told him what he was going to find when he reached the parking deck... but given that she'd specified the need for a handcuff key, he could guess.

He'd just figured that it had something to do with Hell Week. Elena had left for home promptly at five... and she'd called him from, he assumed, the parking deck more than ten minutes later. Obviously _something_ had slowed her down.

"Come _on_ , you motherfuckin' bastard..." Reno's voice growled, and Rude caught the sound of metal clinking against metal, followed by still more profanity. He followed the the sound of his partner's voice to the far side of a truck... and burst out laughing.

"Fuck you," Reno ground out. "Get me the fuck outta this."

Rude managed to calm himself and knelt down beside the redhead, resting a hand on his shoulder.

"She got you good," he stated, decisively. Reno glared at him, though the effect was greatly diminished by the fact that he currently resembled a very angry pretzel. He was trapped, his back against the side of the vehicle with his right arm stretched out over his chest and above his head, handcuffed to the door handle. His other arm was positioned awkwardly behind his back, his hand concealed beneath the truck's runningboard. Rude could only assume that it was similarly locked down.

"Goddammit, Rude... I swear to Ifrit, if you don't unlock these damn things in the next thirty seconds..."

The bald Turk smirked slightly.

"You'll do what, exactly?" he chuckled. Of course he was going to let his friend loose. Eventually. But this really was hilarious, from _his_ point of view. He intended to savor it a little while longer. Reno scowled at him, but said nothing. Rude peered underneath the truck and spotted the second pair of handcuffs. They were attached to the axle, holding his friend in place quite effectively.

"So... What was _supposed_ to happen in this exercise?" he queried innocently. Reno rolled his eyes.

"Basic detection and avoidance. I was stalking her. She was supposed to give me the slip."

"Guess she's getting full marks on this one, then."

"Tch... Like hell. I _found_ her in about sixty seconds flat. She completely failed on that point."

"And yet _she's_ not the one _I_ had to come down here and rescue..." Rude pointed out, snickering.

"... Are you gonna get me outta this mess or not?!" Reno shouted, clearly growing more and more annoyed by his predicament. Rude smiled and stood up, reaching into his jacket's inner pocket.

"In a minute..." he replied. The redhead's eyes narrowed.

"Rude... don't you _fucking_ dare."

Rude ignored his partner's protests and pulled out his PHS, quickly thumbing open the camera app.

"Smile..." he requested, aiming the device at the trapped Turk. Reno strained against his bonds, and aimed a futile kick at his fellow Turk's phone.

"Dammit, Rude!"

The bald Turk snapped the photo, and then pulled it up on the phone's screen, chuckling as she studied it.

"This one is _definitely_ going in the scrapbook..."

Reno let his head fall back against the truck's side panel with a loud thunk and groaned. Rude tucked his phone away, and at last produced the requested handcuff key.

"Hope you learned your lesson," he said, snickering while unlocking one hand and then the other.

"And just what 'lesson' do you think I needed to learn," Reno asked with a roll of his eyes. The redhead gently rubbed at his newly freed wrists, massaging the circulation back into them.

"That you should never underestimate Elena's ability to one-up you. You've taught her _too_ well."

~fin~


	45. Scene 45

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 45**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene Notes:**_ _Arrest number seven is also the reason Rude no longer has a girlfriend._

 _From Chapter 28: Snow Day_

" _Now, there are two things ya gotta know here. One... At the time, me 'n Rude were neighbors." He paused a moment, grinning to himself, and laughed, "And when I'm done, you'll understand why he lives across town, now. He was on the ground floor. My place was upstairs, right over his. And two, Rude was seein' this girl... eh... pretty regularly. Wouldn't quite call it serious or anything, but... ya know. He liked her. She liked him. She spent the night more than a few times."_

 _Elena's eyebrows rose in curiosity. Rude kept to himself so much... for some reason, she'd never really pictured him dating._

* * *

Lips hungrily claimed his as his fingers twisted into her hair, forcing her closer. He felt her hand drift downward, fumbling with the zipper on his pants for a moment, before finally yanking it downward and slipping inside the fabric. He groaned, eyes squeezing tightly shut and arched into her touch, and she laughed, delighted by his reaction.

Before things could go any farther, however, the unwelcome sound of his PHS broke through the haze of lust, and another groan escaped his lips... though for an entirely different reason.

"Don't answer it," she demanded, her fingers squeezing gently, and for a brief moment, he was sorely tempted to obey. The moment passed, however, and with a sigh, he extracted himself from her grasp. He rolled over and reached for his phone.

"... Rude here," he calmly answered, and anyone listening would never have suspected that he'd just been about fifteen seconds away from getting laid.

" _Uh... heh... so, funny story..."_ a familiar voice began, and the Turk rolled his eyes and cast a quick glance at the glowing red numerals of his alarm clock. Just after midnight.

"Don't tell me. You need someone to bail you out."

" _... That... and uh... bring me some clothes."_

Rude snorted softly and shook his head. It figured.

"Which station?" he asked, in a resigned voice.

" _Sector 4... The one over by the Swan,"_ Reno answered.

"... On my way."

" _You're a lifesaver, pal... I owe ya one."_

'You have no idea,' Rude thought to himself, but held his tongue, opting instead to simply hang up, and reach for his discarded shirt. When he turned back, Margaret was glaring at him with a very displeased expression on her face.

"Let me guess," she said, angrily. "That asshole friend of yours needs you to come bail his worthless, drunk ass out of jail. _Again_. And you're just gonna do it. _Again_. Why can't that obnoxious little leech find someone _else_ to take advantage of for once?!"

Rude shrugged his shirt back on, and found his shoes.

"Reno doesn't take advantage of me," he replied.

"Bullshit. Rude, that idiot blew a _hole_ in your ceiling two weeks ago and didn't even apologize! And now he expects you to come post bail in the middle of the night? _Why_ do you put up with that little creep?!"

The Turk shoved his phone into his pocket, along with his wallet, and grabbed his keys.

"Because he's my friend," he said, "I'll be back."

He moved to kiss her, but she pulled away.

"I won't be here."

"..."

"I mean it, Rude. I'm sick of this. If you leave right now, I'm done. I won't be here when you get back, and you can go right ahead and lose my number. If you'd rather spend all your time cleaning up that disgusting little pervert's messes, I don't want any part of it. It's me or the slum rat, Rude."

"... Don't call him that."

Her eyes narrowed.

"Why not? That's _exactly_ what he is, and you know it. You should just let him sitin jail for the night instead of running to his rescue for once. It's not going to kill him, and maybe he'll finally get the message that you don't like being treated like a doormat!"

Rude swallowed sharply. He didn't want to lose Margaret. The two of them just seemed to... click... from the moment they met, and she was the first girl he'd ever had real feelings for. He wasn't sure yet where the relationship was going... but he desperately wanted to find out.

But Reno... Reno clicked with him, too. He'd hadn't actually known him _that_ much longer than Margaret, to be honest... but he _felt_ like he'd known him half his life. And for someone as painfully shy as he could be at times, that sort of friendship was hard to come by.

He sighed, frozen for the moment in indecision.

* * *

Reno jumped up at the sound of the cell door opening.

"Oh, thank Ifrit..." It was about damn time. He smirked and stood up, heading for the exit.

"Not you," the officer stated, and cast a glance over the redhead's shoulder, and motioned his cellmate toward the corridor. "You. You're bail's been paid. You can go."

The Turk grumbled and crossed his arms over his chest as the other man in the station's drunk tank smugly got up and walked out. As he passed by the redhead, he swatted him on the ass and leered drunkenly.

"Almost sad to leave such a pretty... _lady_... behind," he cackled.

"Keep your hands to yourself, pal... unless you wanna lose 'em," Reno growled... though it was hard to look intimidating in a miniskirt and halter top. That was the absolute _last_ time he was going to _that_ club. He still didn't know which of the fuckers had run off with his _own_ clothes. And his wallet, his phone, his keys... his dignity...

The only answer he received was a loud laugh, as the other man was escorted out.

Where in the nine hells was Rude, anyway?! He'd called him almost half an hour ago! A few short minutes later his question was answered.

"Donovan! You're out of here, too!" the officer called out as he returned to release the redhead from his cage.

"'Bout damn time..." Reno muttered scurrying into the hall and following the officer up to the front desk, where he easily spotted his fellow rookie waiting for him. "The hell took ya so long?"

Rude didn't answer... he just looked the younger Turk over for a moment and shook his head before tossing him the set of workout clothes he'd brought with him. Reno grinned and gratefully pulled them on over what little he was currently wearing. Rude wordlessly turned and strode out to the street where his truck was waiting, the redhead not far behind.

"Aren't you even gonna ask?" Reno asked, playfully. "It's a hell of a story..."

Rude turned the key in the ignition and and put the vehicle in gear, pulling out of the parking space and into traffic... not that there was much at nearly one in the morning.

"So I met this girl..."

"I don't care," Rude stated, cutting him off, and the redhead blinked in surprise. He looked up at him, apologetically.

"Okay... so you're obviously pissed at me. I mean... I know it's late 'n all."

"Margaret dumped me."

"... Oh. Ouch. Yeah, I can see why you might not be in the best of moods."

He'd sort of _thought_ Rude might really be falling for that girl. They'd been seeing more and more of one another lately. To be honest, Reno wasn't particularly fond of Margaret. She was awfully high-strung. Not to mention high-maintenance. And he was pretty sure she hated _his_ guts. But she _did_ seem to genuinely likeRude, and she made him happy. And that was what was important.

"So... what happened?" Reno ventured. Rude's jaw clenched, but he didn't answer right away. "Rude? Come on, man... What's the matter? There anything I can do? 'Cause you know I got your back... Just ask."

Rude gave a soft sigh and shook his head.

"It was you or her," he said at last, as they exited the freeway and stopped at a light.

"What'd'ya mean it was me or her?" Reno hesitantly asked.

"... She told me if I went to get you, she wasn't going to be there when I got back."

The redhead stared at him for a moment, disbelievingly. He'd know that he wasn't exactly Margaret's favorite person... but damn.

"You're a fucking idiot," he said, still staring at his friend, wide-eyed. "Why the fuck didn't you just leave my sorry ass to rot? I'm not worth givin' up somethin' like _that_..."

Reno sank back against the seat as they turned a corner. He could already feel the sharp stab of guilt in the pit of his stomach. He'd just ruined his best friend's relationship.

"Fuck... I'm sorry, Rude." It was barely more than a whisper. His friend didn't answer for a moment, and instead turned into the parking lot of Reno's apartment building.

"... Don't be."

The redhead looked up in surprise.

"It was _my_ choice, and I chose my friend. My _best_ friend. You're... like family." He managed a somewhat sad smile. "Probably wouldn't have worked out with Margaret anyway."

~fin~


	46. Scene 46

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 46**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene Notes:**_ _Reno rarely gets sick... but when he does, it's never fun, for anyone involved._

 _From Chapter 13: Up in Smoke_

" _That's it... Enough. What's going on?" Tseng finally said._

" _Nothin'," Reno replied._

" _Obviously it's something... the only time I've ever seen you intentionally forgo eating was when you had that stomach flu and couldn't keep anything down for more than five minutes. And even then, you still made the attempt a few times before you finally conceded defeat," he pointed out, "So I'll ask you again. What is going on?"_

* * *

"Oh, please, Ifrit, just kill me now..." Reno moaned, using what little strength he had left to cling desperately to the toilet. He couldn't even sit up. Every time he tried, the room started to spin. He let his sweat drenched forehead rest against the cool porcelain and silently repeated his plea for death. He was dimly aware that his PHS was ringing... but given that it was currently two rooms away, he had no inclination to even make the attempt.

It had been a long time since he'd been _this_ sick. In fact, the last time had been shortly before Christmas when he was thirteen. Some present. He'd been stuck on his own _that_ time, too. It hadn't been a fun six days. In the end, he'd been so weak – both from the illness and from hunger – that he'd literally had to _crawl_ out of the dilapidated building he'd been living in, and sit on the corner, begging for food. And frankly, he wasn't sure he'd even be here right now, had someone not taken pity on his scrawny ass and tossed him a couple gil as they walked past.

But even _that_ was nothing compared to what he was going through at the moment. He'd woken up that morning, soaked in sweat, but utterly freezing, and tried to alleviate it with some soup he'd stored away in one of his kitchen's cabinets.

That had been his first mistake.

Almost as soon as he'd finished it, it had come right back up, along with anything else that hadn't been fully digested yet. And it hadn't stopped there. He'd been dry heaving for what seemed like ages, his body not content with merely rejecting food... it had decided to take things a step farther and attempt to reject his entire stomach. His abdominal muscles were beginning to cramp from the near constant clenching at this point.

Reno whimpered softly as he felt another wave of nausea hit him, and within seconds, was puking his guts out again... though by now, on the rare occasion that something actually came up, it was little more than bile. When it finally stopped, he coughed faintly and lay slumped against the toilet, panting hard.

His phone rang again back in his bedroom. Leaving it there had been his _second_ mistake. If he'd had enough foresight to grab the damn thing, he could have called Rude. Or Tseng. Or, hell, he was desperate enough he _might_ have even been willing to summon Dr. Ward from her domain on the ninth floor of Shinra Headquarters. He _had_ to be late for work by now... if he didn't answer his PHS, maybe someone would come check on him eventually. At the moment, that was about his only hope... because he couldn't've moved if he wanted to. The last thing he remembered before darkness mercifully claimed him was the sound of his phone.

* * *

Reno woke to find himself mysteriously back in bed, the covers drawn up to his chin, a damp cloth resting on his forehead. For a moment, he wasn't quite sure what had woken him. Then he heard the voices. He wasn't alone. The redhead pushed against the blankets that enveloped him, but it was no use. He just didn't have the strength to extricate himself.

"Fourth one today," a familiar voice lamented, "And I don't mind telling yeh it's a _nasty_ little bug that's going around. Spreads like mad. Half the legal department's out with it this week, and accounting's not doing much better. It's taking out all of Headquarters one floor at a time. Even one of my _own_ staff's down for the count..."

"But he'll be alright?"

"Oh, for Shiva's sake, Tseng... He's got the flu, not the plague. As long as the little troublemaker stays in bed and gets some much needed rest, he'll be just fine in a few days. The main worry is letting him get too dehydrated. Yeh'll need ta make sure he gets plenty of fluids. I gave him an antiemetic, so things should stay down... for now. Yer staying with him for awhile, I assume?"

"Of course... I _am_ his legal guardian for a few more months, after all. And even were that not the case, I have no intention of leaving him on his _own_ in such a state. Besides which... given that I've now been exposed to this 'nasty little bug' of yours, it's perhaps for the best that I don't return to the office today. I don't think Veld would appreciate it."

"Agreed. I know _I_ certainly don't need any moresick Turks ta deal with. Lots of water, then, and some ginger ale might help ta keep his stomach settled. I'd avoid letting him have anything solid until we're sure he can manage it, but if he's feeling up ta it, try some chicken broth later... and for Shiva's sake keep an eye on his fever. Yeh give me a call right away if it spikes again. Or if yeh start ta feel sick yerself, for that matter."

"Thank you, Justinia..."

"Hmph... yeh just take care of that boy. I'll check in on yeh both again tonight."

Reno heard soft footfalls on the carpet, and the the sound of a door closing. He let his eyes drift shut again, and regretted it immediately when he discovered that he couldn't seem to wrench them open again. Someone walked into his bedroom, but he was already losing his tenuous grasp on consciousness. He tried... but ultimately failed... to hold onto it, like a lifeline.

* * *

Something cool and wet was gently stroking his face, leaving a trail of delicious cold on his burning skin. When it suddenly withdrew, he whimpered pitifully, only relaxing when it returned a moment later.

"Reno?" Tseng's voice prodded softly. It took some effort, but the redhead managed to force his eyes open. He blinked a few times until his vision cleared, and his mentor's face hovered before him. The senior Turk smiled faintly. "How are you feeling?"

"... Like total shit," he replied, cringing slightly as his throat protested. He was parched. Tseng gently wiped his brow with the cool cloth once more, and then set it aside in a bowl of ice water.

"I'd imagine so." He slipped an arm behind the younger man's back and lifted him slightly before holding a glass of water to his lips. Reno gratefully drank. "Dr. Ward assures me you'll be feeling better soon, however. I've already notified Veld that you will be out for a few days. Apparently this is going around..."

"Tch... Good. 'Least I'm not the _only_ one stuck feelin' like I'm dyin'..." the redhead grumbled. He hated being sick. Granted, it didn't happen often... but when it _did_ he was usually stuck, for days, struggling to care or himself, not knowing if he was going to be well enough to eat... or if he _was_ , not knowing if he'd be well enough to _make_ something to eat... or have the money to buy something to eat even if he was well enough to cook it because he'd been forced to miss work. Life was stressful enough... having all that piled on top only made things ten times worse.

Tseng let him lay back down and chuckled.

"Do you think you could manage some broth?"

"Think you'd probably have to pour it down my fuckin' throat..." he replied with a derisive snort. He knew he was being unforgivably short with his mentor... but he couldn't seem to help it. His eyelids felt as though they weighed a ton. He could barely lift _them_ , let alone a spoon.

"It wouldn't be the first time," Tseng assured him. "You're hardly the first petulant child I've had to help nurse back to health. I grew up with three younger siblings, you know... and three older ones who could be just as immature on occasion."

Reno managed to find just enough energy to glare at his mentor.

"I'm almost eighteen. I'm not a fuckin' kid."

Tseng shook his head, smiling in amusement. "No... I know you're not. But I think you'll find it to your benefit to let me treat you like one until you're feeling better."

He reached for the bowl of water and carefully wrung out the cloth before refolding it and laying it across Reno's forehead. The redhead sighed faintly... No one had ever really taken care of him like this. Not since his mother had died, at any rate. Down in the slums, there _hadn't_ been anyone until he'd met Lira... but she'd been just a kid, too, back then, and not much older than he was. It wasn't the same.

At last he settled back and closed his eyes again in silent consent. If Tseng wanted to wait on him for awhile, he'd let him. He was a little embarrassed to admit it, but it was kind of... nice... not having to fend for himself for once.

Broth sounded terrible, though. He wasn't puking anymore... and his stomach was so empty it was growling. Starving. He wondered how hard it would be to talk Tseng into pizza instead...

~fin~


	47. Scene 47

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 47**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene Notes:**_ _This takes place at the end of TCoR: Advent Children. The night after being reunited and learning that Elena is pregnant, Reno muses over his impending fatherhood._

* * *

Reno couldn't sleep. There were simply too many thoughts going through his head, and he'd given up even trying hours ago, in spite of being completely spent. He'd been thinking about a lot of things... but mostly about the fact that his life was, in just nine very, _very_ short months, going to change forever.

He shifted position slightly, careful not to wake the woman sleeping so peacefully next to him, and moved so that his head rested gently on Elena's chest. His hand drifted downwards, coming to rest protectively on her belly. She was going to have a baby. _His_ baby. It still didn't seem quite real.

He'd hadn't felt such an odd combination of joy and absolute terror since their wedding day.

The redhead closed his eyes, and nuzzled his wife's shoulder, pressing a reverent kiss to her soft skin. In truth... he'd never had any desire to be a father. Or maybe, it would be more accurate to say that he'd never allowed himself to want it. Before Elena, it had been something he had been exceptionally cautious to avoid, and _after_ they'd gotten together... well, save for a brief, half-serious conversation in Junon a few weeks into their relationship, it had never really come up.

Now, however... it was happening, whether it _seemed_ real or not. And he was a little surprised to find that _wanted_ it to happen. He wasn't sure he could even put into words just how _badly_ he wanted it.

At the same time, fear and doubt were currently vying for his undivided attention, and he couldn't help but dwell on the fact that, quite frankly, he had absolutely no idea how to be a father, let alone a _good_ father. His own... hell, he didn't even know who he was. He'd never met him... had never been told his name. He could have passed him on the street a hundred times in the last two decades and never realized it. Most of the time that didn't bother him.

Every once in awhile, though...

When he was _very_ young, he'd occasionally fantasized about knowing him. After awhile, he'd built up a mental image of the man that was so detailed it had almost seemed real. In all likelihood, it probably wasn't even _close_ to reality. The _reality_ was that his father had _probably_ been some Sector 2 junkie who'd found himself with a little extra gil one night and paid his mother for a good time... and then, more likely than not, had OD'ed before he was ever born.

But the fantasy had been comforting in a weird sort of way. Especially after his mother had died. For a little while, he'd allowed himself to entertain the notion that his father would somehow miraculously find him and take him away from that grimy little orphanage in Sector 2 they'd chucked him into when no one else wanted him. When he was nine, he'd run away from that place... and he'd forced himself to stop thinking about idiotic shit like that.

Reno's grip on Elena tightened, and he silently swore that _his_ child wasn't going to grow up like that. He'd never particularly liked not knowing the first thing about who he came from. His lineage beyond his mother was a mystery he'd never been able to solve. And he _had_ tried... but record keeping in Midgar's slums was notoriously lax, and he'd found no trace of her in any of the records departments on the Plate after he'd become a Turk. Eventually, he'd given up.

 _His_ child wasn't going to have that problem. He or she was going to grow up knowing its parents and every other relative still living. It would know it was loved and wanted and precious to all of them. _His_ child was never going to have to piece together a family one relationship at a time he way _he'd_ had to.

His child... _their_ child... was going to come into this world with parents that loved them... and a couple of uncles that would do anything to keep them safe. He'd make sure of it. No one was ever going to hurt his baby... and anyone who tried was going to wish _they'd_ never been born.

Elena stirred slightly in her sleep, and Reno let himself relax a little. He wasn't in this alone... and he wouldn't be learning to do it by himself. That thought calmed the worry somewhat, and let him dwell instead on how much he was looking forward to this, unexpected though it was.

Maybe the next nine months weren't going to be so short after all. In fact... nine months suddenly seemed like an almost unbearable eternity.

~fin~


	48. Scene 48

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 48**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene Notes:**_ _… Maaaaaybe Reno and Elena shouldn't ask Rufus to babysit anymore._

 _From TcoR: Advent Children – Bonus Scene:_

" _... Oh, dear Holy," Rufus suddenly moaned, "No more diapers. Please Ramuh, no more diapers..."_

* * *

The smell was utterly fetid. It was, quite literally, making his eyes water, and if something wasn't done soon, there was a very real possibility that he would be seeing his dinner again in the very near future... a prospect that he would very much have preferred to avoid. He glanced hopefully up at the clock... and his face immediately fell. It was well over an hour before they'd be back. Why he'dagreed to this nightmare, he couldn't even begin to fathom. At last, he simply couldn't take it anymore.

Rufus hesitantly lifted the source of the foul odor and held it at arms length, carrying it across the room as it cooed at him.

"Rude!" he called out as loudly as he dared. The blasted Turk was _supposed_ to be helping him. Instead, he'd spent most of the evening in the kitchen, emerging only when strictly necessary, with the explanation that he was 'just there to cook'. As if Elena and the slum rat were utterly incapable of such a task simply because they had a new baby.

The stoic Turk poked his head around the corner, an eyebrow rising in curiosity at the sight that greeted him. In all fairness, Rufus mused, he probably _did_ look just a little ridiculous, slowly making his way toward the kitchen, holding a now-beginning-to-fuss infant out in front of him like a time bomb.

"Rude... Do something," he ordered, confident that once Aria was safely out of his hands, everything would be perfectly fine.

"... What's wr–" Rude began, before the smell finally hit him. "Oh, dear _Odin_..."

" _Do_ something!" he quickly reiterated, as the Turk instinctively retreated a step or two.

"... Take her to her room," the other man sighed in resignation. "I need to turn this down to a simmer, and then I'll be in to help."

Rufus opened his mouth in protest, but no words issued forth. Finally, he had no choice but to turn back, and head for the baby's room. Aria protested the sudden reversal in course, and began wailing loudly. The President cringed at the sound. Until recently, he'd never thought to consider small children as a viable weapon... but now that he'd spent some time with one, it was becoming increasingly apparent that they might well be an excellent source of artillery for both acoustic _and_ chemical wafare.

He hurried down the hallway, and with a brief sigh of relief, set the little girl down on the changing table and waited for the Turk. Rude appeared in the doorway moments later.

"Well?" he asked, gesturing to the baby.

"... Well what? _I_ don't know how to do this."

Rufus stared at him, wide-eyed. "What do you _mean_ you don't know how to do this?" he snarled. The bald man shrugged.

"Tseng's usually here for babysitting duty. He always takes care of it."

Unfortunately for them, Tseng was in Junon. Somehow, Rufus suspected that even if he recalled the Turk leader this very moment, this couldn't wait until he returned.

"Well, _I_ certainly don't know what I'm doing," Rufus replied. "In case you've forgotten, I've never had any experience with this sort of thing. I'm an only child."

Rude smirked. "So am I, sir."

The Shinra executive groaned and turned back to Aria, who by then was sobbing so loudly her face was turning quite red. With no small amount of trepidation, he gently poked at the exceedingly full diaper.

"S-surely it can't be _that_ difficult... Can it?" he queried. Rude shrugged again.

"Only one way to find out."

Rufus took a deep breath to steady himself... and immediately regretted it as he gagged. He gingerly gripped the tabs of the squalling little redhead's diaper and pulled them free, opening it up. His eyes widened in horror as he did so.

"Sweet, merciful Ramuh..."

* * *

"Guys? We're home..." Elena called out between giggles as Reno continued to plant teasing kisses down the side of her neck. "Will you cut that out? We have company. Behave yourself..." she teased.

"Not like they've never seen it before," he replied with a grin. It quickly morphed into a leer. "Come to think of it, Rude, at least, has seen me do a _lot_ more than just kiss ya..."

Elena gently gripped his pony tail and pulled just hard enough to stop him from making a second attempt at her neck. "Yes... but we don't _speak_ of that little incident, _do_ we?"

Reno chuckled. "Not if _'we'_ know what's good for us, we don't..." he acknowledged as Rude made his way into the living room. "Hey, partner. How's my baby girl?"

Rude snickered softly.

"Oh... _Aria's_ just fine. Sound asleep in her crib. _Rufus_ , on the other hand..."

At the mention of his name, the Shinra heir emerged from the kitchen, clutching a mug of tea with a slightly shell-shocked expression on his face. He made his way over to the group.

"The next time you consider imploring me to babysit... Don't," he said, and firmly placed the mug into Reno's hands before making a hasty exit. Elena blinked in surprise, watching him head off into the darkness, back towards his own lodgings.

"... The hell was that about?" Reno asked. Rude grinned somewhat evilly.

"Aria needed a diaper change."

"So?" his friend prodded, a questioning eyebrow rising, "What's the big deal? You've probably done that as many times as _I_ have by now..."

"Didn't tell _Rufus_ that. Made _him_ do it. Thought for sure he was gonna faint halfway through..."

" _Rude!_ " Elena scolded him... though she was unable to stop the laugh that slipped past her lips.

"Ya know... Sometimes you're one _sadistic_ son of a bitch, pal," Reno snickered. "And that's why I love ya..."

~fin~


	49. Scene 49

**Taking Care of Reno: Interludes - Scene 49**

 **by Desha**

 _ **Scene Notes:**_ _Arrest number 8 proved to Reno that Tseng wasn't above showing Reno a little tough love back when he was a rookie._

* * *

Reno pushed upwards, trying to lift the window, and swore when it didn't budge. He was _sure_ he'd left it unlocked. What the fuck was he supposed to do now? He looked furtively around the darkened block. Tseng's car sat in its usual parking space... which meant that the Turk lieutenant was home. And if he was home, Reno had no doubt in his mind that he'd hear him if he came through the front door.

Hell, the son of a bitch was _probably_ staking out the living room, _waiting_ for him to come in.

It was his own fault... first the concert had run long, and then afterward, a girl had coaxed him into the back seat of her car. Not that he'd really _needed_ much coaxing. Unfortunately, that meant that he was now trying to slip into the apartment he shared with Tseng, undetected, a little before one in the morning... which was _well_ after the ten o'clock curfew Tseng had imposed upon him when he'd moved in. The effort wasn't going well.

He'd nearly resigned himself to walking through the front door and taking whatever punishment was coming when a thought suddenly occurred to him. If Tseng really _was_ sitting there waiting for him... then he _wasn't_ in his bedroom. And if he wasn't in his bedroom, the teenager might still have a chance at saving his ass after all. Assuming, of course, that one of _those_ windows happened to be unlocked.

Reno grinned to himself and slipped around front to peer through a small gap in the curtains. The senior Turk was, indeed, seated in his favorite chair, calmly reading a book. There was only one reason he'd be up this late... and that was to catch his rookie breaking curfew. The redhead smirked...

"Not gonna make it that easy for ya, Boss..." he snickered softly, and hightailed it around to the east wall of the building, easily finding his way to one of Tseng's windows in the darkness. He tried to open it, but was met with resistance. Shaking his head, he moved on to the other window, and laughed at his good luck. Not only was it unlocked... it was _open_ a crack to let in the warm night air. He slowly raised it just far enough to climb through, careful not to make a sound, and hoisted himself up and over the sill.

Just when he thought he was free and clear, a heavy hand clamped down on the back of his t-shirt, roughly dragging him backwards and throwing him to the ground.

"Hands where I can see 'em!" a voice ordered, and Reno's eyes widened slightly as he suddenly found himself staring down the barrel of a gun. His eyes then locked onto the badge on his assailant's chest, and the redhead groaned. He slowly lifted his hands.

"Uh... heh... I know this probably looks pretty bad from where you're standin'... but I swear it's _not_ what it looks like..."

"Hands above your head, and roll over onto your stomach," the police officer replied.

"Seriously, man... I wasn't breakin' in!" Reno protested even as he complied with the officer's command. "I mean... I guess, ya know... _technically_... I was. But I wasn't! I fuckin' _live_ here!"

His arms were unceremoniously seized and forced behind his back, and a pair of handcuffs snapped into place, securing them there.

"Got any ID on you to prove that?"

"... Uh..." the redhead stammered, remembering that he'd left his company credentials in his bedroom. And he didn't yet _have_ the driver's license that Tseng had promised he'd help him get this weekend.

"Mmhmm... That's what I thought," the officer replied, hoisting the rookie Turk to his feet. He began prodding him toward his patrol car.

"W-wait! I'm not lyin'... Just go knock on the door! My... _guardian_..." he sighed softly, still not entirely comfortable referring to Tseng as such, "... is inside. He'll vouch for me."

"Oh, he _will,_ will he? Let's just go and see about that." With that, Reno found himself being marched around to the front and up the walkway to the door. The man knocked loudly, and the young Turk shuffled in apprehension. Tseng wasn't exactly gonna be happy about this... but, he supposed, it was better than spending the night in jail. The door opened a crack and his mentor peered out, looking distinctly displeased.

"Yes?" he answered.

"I'm sorry to bother you so late, sir... But I caught this young man attempting to break into your apartment through one of the windows. The boy claims he lives here and that you're his guardian."

Tseng's attention shifted almost imperceptibly to the redhead, and for a brief moment Reno was absolutely certain he saw him smirk.

"I've never seen him before in my life," Tseng said, calmly, and Reno's jaw dropped.

"I thought that might be the case," the officer said, with a tip of his hat, "Don't worry. I'll take care of this little miscreant. You have yourself a good night, sir."

"B-but... I... hey, wait!" Reno sputtered, as he was dragged off towards the patrol car. He was quickly installed in the back seat, and the door slammed shut, trapping him. He turned toward the apartment, where his mentor still stood in the doorway, watching him, and saw him remove his PHS from a pocket, typing something into it briefly, before tucking it away and stepping back inside.

A moment later, Reno's _own_ phone chimed in his pocket. The police officer climbed into the driver's seat, and started the engine. As they were pulling out of the parking lot, the redhead finally managed to maneuver the device out of his back pocket and open up the text message. He was forced to bite back several curses as he read it.

" _Next time, don't miss curfew. I'll see you in the morning."_

~fin~


End file.
